Kingdom Hearts: Radiant Dawn

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts! If I did, then I would have made an anime series! Really, that would be awesome, but Disney probably won't allow it. T.T

Another important announcement: This chapter had been cleaned and proof-read by the lovely Xxser3ndipityxX so it should be now more easier on the eyes to read. Thank you so much! ^0^

Note: Just to let you know, there will be OCs, so I hope that you enjoy their characters and how they contribute to the story. The story might be altered a bit to suit the new story devices and characters in order for them to develop, but the main story is more or less the same as the original game, so enjoy! =D

Also, there might be some spoilery things for Kingdom Hearts Unchained Back Cover, but nothing else, really. =3

Pairings: SoraXKairi, Past!AvaXGula (I don't know why, but I already ship those two so freaking much 3) OCXOC (There might be OCXRiku, but I haven't decided if I wanted to main that, so for now it's OCXOC. Or better yet, maybe a love triangle, oooh) =3

Genre: Romance/Adventure/Humor/Family/Friendship and, of course, totally Fantasy. =P

Summary: The tale of Kingdom Hearts is retold through the eyes of Sora's twin sister Lucille. Like Sora, she had lived on Destiny Islands her whole life, but her ordinary life gets...unordinary when a mysterious storm sweeps over the islands Their lives will be nothing like they were before.

Episode 1: Destiny Islands

A young fourteen-year-old-girl slowly opened her eyes, the sun's rays blinding her for a moment. She used one arm to shade her eyes as they slowly started to sharpen and focus again. She found herself in her bedroom, where nothing was out of the ordinary. Her dreams, however, were another story.

Recently, she had been having very ominous recurring dreams that had been occurring every night for the last week, robbing her of a good night's sleep.

It was always the same. They involved herself, her brother Sora, their two best friends Riku and Kairi, a dark storm, and black creatures with freaky little eyes. This time, however, she had ended up in some sort of realm filled with stained glass platforms which were bordered by a void of darkness, within which-her personal favorite-a definitely-not-at-all-suspicious voice echoed and guided her through this weird place in her dreams.

She had woken up in the middle of the night last night, panicking since the dream almost felt too real. Thankfully, when she went back to sleep after being scared awake, she wasn't plagued by it again, but it did creep her out. What happened to the days when she dreamed happy, nice dreams that didn't involve those scary little black creatures with the glowing yellow eyes?

She yawned, sat up in bed and stretched her arms widely, still in her simple pink pajamas. "I really need to stop drinking paopu fruit juice before going to bed; I bet that's the culprit behind those nightmares."

Just as she fell back again on the bed and pulled the blanket over her head to block out the sun's rays...her door opened abruptly.

"Morning, Sis!" Sora beamed brightly, almost like the sun.

"Noooo...," she groaned. So much for sleeping in.

"Lucille? Are you alright?" Sora noticed his twin sister was hiding underneath the blankets and slowly approached her, checking to make sure she was alright.

"Morning, Sora. You know, it's rude to not knock on someone's door." The girl known as Lucille drew the blanket off her body, surrendering to her long, chocolate brown hair, disheveled and in desperate need of brushing.

"Sis, your bedroom is literally just across the hall from mine," Sora flatly stated. "Anyway, you look like you didn't get any sleep at all last night. Are you feeling okay?" Sora asked with concern, inspecting his sister's temperature.

Ah, her sweet twin brother…As much as they sometimes got on each other's nerves, when it came to caring about the other's well-being, Sora always looked out for her, just as Lucille would for Sora, even though she was technically the elder one by ten minutes.

"Sora, I'm fine. I'm not sick. I just had...a really weird dream," Lucille answered, taking Sora's hand away from her forehead.

"Oh...want to talk about it?"

She gave it some thought, but she then shook her head. "I'll be fine. Maybe it's just a phase."

"I'll tell Riku and Kairi that you'll be coming to the island later on today. I'll see you there," Sora told her with his trademark grin and hurried off.

That was Sora's way of saying, 'I'll tell the others you'll be late while you catch up on your sleep.' She smiled. Yup, Sora was always such a sweetheart when it came to his sister. Then again, she would spoil Sora a lot, too. Being twins, they had always been naturally very close with one another. It was like they were already best friends straight from birth-okay, that was probably an exaggeration, but the point was that Sora had been, for much of their childhood, very delicate with her, almost as if he was worried she would end up sick again like she used to be all the time as a child if they were too reckless.

Lucille wasn't that sick little girl anymore who would get bedridden, sometimes for months. Her body and immune system were much stronger now, but Sora probably still always had that fear that she would collapse any moment. Guess he still felt a lot of guilt for what happened seven years ago when she almost died…She never once blamed Sora or Riku for that; that was her own fault for acting so stubborn, but Sora obviously felt differently about it-hence why he becomes worried about her over the simplest of things.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the attention, but Sora really didn't need to fret over her anymore. Just to be safe, though, she decided to take Sora up on his offer and catch up on the sleep that was robbed of her last night; she was going to need all the sleep she could get, considering, in two day's time, their raft would be finished.

It was early noon by the time Lucille fully awoke, got dressed and rowed over to the island where all the kids played.

Since she and Sora were identical twins, they had the same eye and hair colour, even the same sun-kissed skin. The only difference between them, besides the obvious—different genders and personalities-was that her chocolate brown hair was long enough to be tied up into a side ponytail that rested over her right shoulder. She wore a collared, blue, form-fitting vest with no sleeves and a sky-blue hoodie jacket over it. Accompanying the vest and hoodie were black, skin-tight shorts, underneath which were white leggings to cover her legs. She had fingerless gloves that reached just above her wrists and, finally, white and blue shoes. She carried around her neck an elegant, curved, heart-shaped necklace made from a material that she was unfamiliar with. It was probably some rare metal.

Her necklace appeared to make a matching pair with the one Sora owned. Their father was the one who bestowed the necklaces upon them. Sora received the crown counterpart while she had the heart counterpart. As he gifted them the necklaces, their dad then proceeded to recount some cryptic meaning behind the existence of the gifts: "Two keys of the same heart shall open the door."

"Pfft, what door?" Lucille recited his words and then rolled her eyes.

As she walked off the dock while carefreely waving at Selphie, Tidus and Wakka, who waved back as she passed, she found her brother, snoozing on the beach.

"And he says I'm the one that needs sleep," She snickered. It didn't take long for her to realize that Kairi was there as well.

"Yo, Kairi," Lucille greeted her softly, so she didn't wake up her brother.

Kairi noticed Lucille's arrival and happily waved to her. "Lucille! Good afternoon! Sora told us you've been having trouble sleeping lately, so he told you to sleep in." Kairi came over and hugged her best friend. "Do you feel okay? He said that you looked tired," Kairi then questioned.

"Kairi, you're as bad as Sora. I'm fine, really. Just been having some bad nights-everyone gets them. I'm sure they'll be gone in no time," Lucille reassured her, although, to be honest, she wasn't so confident about those dreams going away anytime soon.

"Still, you should let us know if you need a break," Kairi told her. Lucille really liked Kairi. She was a sweet girl, and it didn't take long for them to click, even though she was from another world. According to what everyone on the main island says, Kairi washed up on the beach the night after the meteor shower that occurred the night before. She had lost all her memories of her old world, so no matter how many times Riku would try to poke information out of her, he would get nothing from her.

Lucille had still been restricted to a bed by that point since she was still too weak to go outside. She remembered being really depressed and angry at herself about that, wanting to meet the strange new girl. She didn't meet Kairi until her body was strong enough to leave the house.

When Lucille was finally strong enough to be able to play outside with the other kids without worrying about her health, she and Kairi hung out with Sora and Riku most of the time, slowly but surely making them a circle of four close friends. Unlike Sora, she was more socially awkward around people due to her lack of human contact for a good chunk of her life, so Riku and Kairi were really the only people she felt close enough to to call friends.

"Heh heh, in any case, I've noticed that my dear brother is slacking off," Lucille smirked.

"Seems that way. I was about to wake him up. Do you mind if I do the honours?" Kairi smiled.

"Go ahead," Lucille smiled back and placed her hands behind her head in a carefree style.

That was when they saw Sora starting to stir. Kairi made her move as she slowly crept over to him, bending her upper body low enough so her head was positioned over Sora's.

With a start, Sora jumped up. "Whoa! Give me a break, Kairi!" Sora responded as Kairi laughed.

"Sora, you lazy bum. I knew I'd find you snoozing down here," Kairi teased.

"No! This huge...thing swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't-ow!" Sora started to explain fast pace, but Kairi gently knocked him on the head. "Are you still dreaming?"

"It wasn't a dream. Or was it? I don't know," Sora started to argue but then began to doubt himself on the dream.

"Wow, and I thought I was the one going through a creepy dream phase," Lucille chimed.

"Sis!" Sora then sat upwards on the sandy beach in a laidback fashion. "So you showed up today? I thought you'd still be at home."

"And have Riku complain about how I was shirking raft duty?" Lucille crossed her arms. "I could do without the bossy attitude he's been showing lately."

"Oh wow, so it isn't just me." Kairi seemed impressed.

"Huh?"

"Never mind." Kairi shook her head with a hopeless smile and took a few steps towards the ocean.

"Say Kairi, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up?" Sora asked curiously, although he already had an idea what her answer would be.

"I told you before, I don't remember anything." Kairi didn't look back but gazed out to the big blue horizon.

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing."

"Would you ever want to go back?" Lucille wondered.

"Hmm...well, I'm happy here."

Lucille smiled at that. "Really?"

"But you know," Kairi continued. "I wouldn't mind going to see it."

"I would like to see it too, along with any other worlds out there. I want to see them all!" Sora added with an excited voice.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kairi turned around and smiled.

In the corner of her eye, Lucille saw a familiar silverette approaching with a log under one of his arms. "Hey, aren't you forgetting about me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, who are you again?" Lucille teased.

"I see the slacker showed up," Riku retorted. "So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft." Riku shrugged before throwing a log over to Sora, who had not been prepared for that log, so it landed on his body.

"And you two are just as lazy as he is," Riku then said, turning to the two girls.

"Hee hee, so you noticed." Kairi giggled.

"We'll finish it together, then~! What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Lucille punched the air.

"Says the one who spent all morning in bed." Riku rolled his eyes.

"Riku, I told you the reason-" Sora started to defend his sister.

"I know, Sora," Riku stopped him midway.

"Don't worry, Sora, that power nap really did wonders for me. I'm ready to take on whatever slavery Riku dishes out at me," Lucille reassured her twin.

"Slavery?" Riku's eye twitched.

"C'mon, let's go. I'll race you," Kairi challenged.

"What? Are you kidding?"

"Ready...Go!"

With that, the four friends raced from one side of the island over to the cove where their raft was hidden away.

While Sora had gone off to gather the things Kairi tasked for him, and Riku had wandered off to the islet, Kairi and Lucille were left with time for a nice girl talk.

"Hey, Lucille. Can I ask you something?" Kairi asked softly while crafting her small lucky charm made from seashells.

"Sure, what is it?" Lucille asked as she tied some of the logs together with some rope.

"Do you think Riku has changed?"

"Riku? Hmm...Well, I have noticed he's gotten more closed off from all of us. Makes me kinda miss the old Riku. At least he wasn't such a smarmy jerk back then like he is now," Lucille answered.

"Heh heh. What was it like with you three before I came here?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm the best person to ask. I spent a huge half of my childhood in bed due to my poor health." Lucille shook her head. "Sora and Riku would spend time with me, though, if they were playing at our house, but I wasn't allowed to go outside or visit Riku's home, even if Sora was there with him."

"...That...must have been lonely." Kairi gave her a look of sympathy.

"Ah, it's okay. I admit I was pretty bitter about myself back then. I hated the fact that I was stuck to the bed because everyone was worried I would kill myself if I pushed my body too much." Lucille shook her head.

"I think Sora said you had a weak body, right?" Kairi recalled

"Yeah, apparently, I was born with a pretty frail body, so whenever I caught colds or fevers, they would end up being really bad cases. I was told it could take years before I was strong enough to go with the other kids to the playground island. So I missed out on a lot of interaction with most of the island kids."

"So besides Sora and Riku, none of the other kids ever knew about you until seven years ago?" Kairi blinked.

"I'm sure they'd heard of me from Sora." Lucille shook her head. "But I don't think I could fit in with them now."

"Sora and Riku were really the only two who would take time to hang out with me, even if they had to spend all day in a girl's bedroom." Lucille smiled at the memory.

"I can't imagine Riku being in a girl's bedroom for that long." Kairi smiled.

"Hahaha, he probably wouldn't now. He was really nice back then to me. I think ever since the incident seven years ago, he's gradually distanced himself away from me. I'm not sure why, though." Lucille wondered.

"Oh...maybe...he felt just as guilty as Sora for what happened to you back then." Kairi smiled sadly.

Lucille recalled that time. Seven years ago, Sora and Lucille's parents had to go away to another residential island for a check-up visit for one of their mother's patients, as she was the island doctor of the main island. So she managed to convince Sora and Riku to help her outside, so she could go out and play with them rather than stay indoors.

It took a lot of work, but she managed to convince the two. They decided to stay on the main island due to Lucille's weak condition but went to play near the ocean. However, Lucille had not spent a lot of time on her legs since she was bedridden, so they felt very weak when she tried to walk or run. Then came the incident. A rogue wave had made her lose her footing and fall underneath the ocean waves. Because her body was so weak, she could not fight against the waves to reach the surface. She had begun to panic as she found it harder to keep the air inside of herself. She didn't know what happened while panicking, but as she was starting to lose consciousness as the water began to fill her lungs, something or someone appeared and saved her, pulling her out of the ocean and back onto the safety of the sandy beach. That someone performed CPR on her and was able to force her to cough out the water from her lungs. She never knew who it was, though, that saved her life

Riku had gone to get his parents while Sora stayed with her, apologising over and over again. Lucille had felt awful for causing so much trouble for the two of them when their parents returned. They had scolded the pair so harshly. Lucille had ended up going to her mom's local clinic to recover since her body had gone into total shock. There was a serious fear that she would die if the response was too late to save her, as her body had been very weak already on top of the accident…

She...really didn't know how or why, but somehow, by some miracle, she survived the incident with her life. Strangely enough, her body slowly but gradually became stronger and healthier till it was strong enough for her to finally to be allowed to go outside without being constantly watched.

She had no idea what brought about the sudden speed of recovery, but whatever it was she was thankful that her body had gotten stronger since then. Now that she thought about it, she could have sworn when she was still in that clinic bed, going in and out of consciousness, that she saw someone bathed in light watching over her and whispering words that she couldn't hear. She passed it off as a delusion she made up while she was wrought with pain and shock at the time.

"That wasn't their fault, though. I was the one that told them to take me outside and play near the ocean with them. I was stubborn. I wanted to go outside and play just like the other kids could. So if anything, it's my own fault for not knowing my own limits."

"Well, at least you're here now and not confined to a bed anymore." Kairi decided to change the subject with a friendly joke.

"You can say that again." Lucille nodded in agreement. Seriously, it had been a dream come true when her mother had finally told her that she could go outside and play. After ten years of her life indoors, she took every chance she could get to go outside to catch up on those lost years compared to the other kids on the island.

"Hey, Lucille. If I told you that...I liked your brother, what would you say?" Kairi asked quite suddenly.

"Wait...Like as in...that kind of like?" Lucille blinked.

"No! I mean...maybe…," Kairi countered quickly, her cheeks faintly burning red, before sighing. "...Yes?"

"Just as I thought." Lucille had a smug look on her face.

"You knew?"

Lucille didn't want to rat out the fact that she knew Sora obviously had a huge crush on Kairi-her brother was so easy to read, after all. So she decided to bluff.

"I'm a girl too, you know. I've totally researched on this kind of stuff...through Mom's old romance novels," Lucille answered. It wasn't exactly a lie; she definitely read her mom's old novels...Some of them were...really corny and cliche. Her dad must have had a field day teasing her mom about her collection. Of course, her mom would then punish him by putting him on the couch for the night for teasing her.

Kairi laughed softly. "Lucille, you read up on romance novels?"

"Hey, I was stuck to a bed. Reading was pretty much all I could do that didn't set off alarm bells on my mom's owl watch over me." Lucille sighed.

"Heh, fair enough," Kairi stood corrected.

"Anyways, don't worry Kairi, you won't hear any arguments from me. And no, I won't tell Sora."

Kairi smiled brightly. "Thanks. I kind of already knew that you'd keep it a secret, but it's still a relief to know."

"So, you plan on telling him this anytime soon? Or are you going to wait till Sora admits defeat first?" Lucille questioned with a cat-like grin.

"You really expect Sora to be the first one to confess?" Kairi giggled.

"...Okay, you make a fair argument. This is Sora we're talking about here. He's hopeless at this kind of stuff." Lucille nodded.

"I already know how Sora feels. He always wears his heart on his sleeve, so it wasn't hard for me to figure out what he feels, even when he tries to hide it." Kairi admitted. "That's what makes Sora so loveable, though."

"So why wait? If you already know how he feels by just reading his face, just tell him you feel the same." Lucille tilted her head in confusion.

"Ah, sweet innocent little Lucille~ It's not that easy, trust me. Once you fall in love with someone, I think you'll understand too," Kairi teased, playfully poking her best friend.

Lucille pouted. True, she never got to that point in her life where she felt anything romantic towards someone, but then again, she hadn't really had enough interaction with people to feel any special feelings like the ones her mom would gush about when talking about her dad. Well, okay, there was Riku, who was the closest male friend she had that wasn't her twin brother, but they were just best friends, right? There's nothing odd about that.

"In a way, this lucky charm I'm making, I was planning on giving to Sora, sort of as an attempt to hint at my feelings for him. Chances are he'll still not figure it out." Kairi showed her still incomplete charm, but it was nearly done by the looks of it. "That's okay, though. I hope that this charm protects him, no matter what happens once we set sail. That's all I ask of it." Kairi smiled warmly.

Lucille also smiled. "Sora's lucky. Riku and I don't get any charms? I'm hurt." She faked a hurt tone.

Kairi playfully punched her shoulder. "You have my undying friendship, is that good enough?"

"Eh, close enough." Lucille teased back, causing the both of them to laugh at their playful banter.

When they heard the entrance to the cove open, they saw Riku, who entered inside.

"Hi, Riku. Thought you did your share of the work today?" Lucille said as she waved.

"I did, but I came to see what you two were doing." Riku crossed his arms.

"Just having some girl talk," Kairi answered, putting the charm away. "I'll go keep an eye out for Sora. I'm sure he'll return soon. You two have fun talking~" Kairi stood up and gave a teasing smile to Lucille and Riku before running off.

"What was that meant to mean?" Riku raised an eyebrow.

"I have no idea." Lucille shrugged. "So to what do I owe the privilege of your presence?" Lucille questioned as she finished the last of her work for the day, then stood up with a jump.

"Sora said you've been struggling to sleep lately. Is something troubling you? Is it about getting cold feet about visiting other worlds on the raft?"

"Of course not!" Lucille hotly retorted. She saw that Riku looked a little surprised by the outburst and sighed. "Sorry, that came out wrong. No, it's nothing like that. Just some really weird dreams lately. I'm sure they'll pass." Lucille shook her head.

"So you're still coming?" Riku asked.

"Yup, someone has to keep Sora out of trouble when we see other worlds." Lucille smirked.

Riku shared a rare smile and looked out at the stretching ocean in front of them. "That's good. And true, knowing Sora, he'll end up probably slacking off even on another world."

"I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't miss this place," Lucille added.

"I'm not so sure if I would say the same thing." Riku shook his head.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Lucille asked curiously.

"Hey~! Riku! Lucille!" Sora's voice broke the short silence between the two, and they both turned to see the brunette boy running towards them along with Kairi.

"Sora! Did you get everything we need for today?" Lucille said as she waved.

"Yup, Tidus and the others stopped me halfway wanting to duel me." Sora nodded, showing off all the various materials he had gathered from Kairi's list.

"Did you lose to them?" Riku smirked.

"I won actually. Even when it was three against one, thanks," Sora huffed as he hotly retorted.

"Riku, be nice. He did his share of work today, so you have no grounds to complain," Lucille scolded.

"Fine, whatever." Riku rolled his eyes.

"..." Sora stared at the both of them and blinked a few times in surprise.

"What?" Riku raised an eyebrow at Sora's expression.

"You okay, Sora?" Lucille asked with concern.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Anyway, here's the rest of the stuff we needed for the raft." Sora dropped a ragged white cloth, some rope and a few more sturdy looking logs.

"Okay, I'm impressed. You can make an effort, after all," Riku stated.

"Oh, shut up," Sora barked back.

"So, should we leave this till tomorrow then? The sun's going to go down soon. Let's go to our hangout spot before going back home." Kairi suggested.

"Sure, we might actually have the raft done by tomorrow by the looks of things." Riku looked at the raft to analyze the progress they had made on it. It was almost seaworthy. All that was left now was adding the sail and gathering some food supplies.

"Already? Wow, time flies." Lucille whistled. "Okay, race you to the hangout spot! Last one there has to eat a paopu fruit with Sora!" Lucille beamed brightly, making a head-start.

"Hey, you cheater, get back here!" Kairi laughed and followed after the other girl.

"Hey! Don't bring me into this, Sis!" Sora's eyes widened in horror. When Kairi and Lucille were no longer in earshot, Sora turned to Riku with a curious look.

"What? Shouldn't you start running after them? Unless you want to share a Paopu fruit with me?" Riku teased, slapping Sora's head lightly.

Sora shivered at the thought and ran after the two girls, with Riku just walking behind, not really bothered about if he ended up last place.

"Aw, you're boring, Riku. Where's your sense of fun?" Lucille playfully asked, poking Riku's arm with a teasing smirk plastered on her face. She had been leaning back on the bending half of the paopu tree next to where Riku was standing up while leaning on the trunk, Sora and Kairi sitting on the thick branch.

"No thanks, I don't want to end up dealing with the lazy bum over there for all eternity."

"I'm right here, you jerk!" Sora fought back.

"So, Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Lucille decided to change the topic after having her fill of teasing the silverette.

"Could be. We'll never know by just staying here," Riku answered, still looking out over the setting sun that turned the ocean into an orange-pinkish shade.

"But how far could a raft take us?" Sora questioned.

"Who knows?" Riku shrugged. "If we have to, we'll think of something else."

"Like what? Swim?" Lucille smirked.

"You'll be the first to drop dead then." Riku threw in a snarky remark.

"Hey, that was years ago! I'm totally as fit as a fiddle now." Lucille puffed her chest out proudly.

"So, suppose you get to another world? What would you do there?" Kairi asked a question of her own.

"Hmm..." Riku started, "Well, I haven't really thought about it. It's just...I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?"

"Um...divine providence?" Lucille suggested innocently.

"Lucille, I'm being serious." Riku gave her a serious look. "And suppose there are other worlds..." Riku continued. "Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater."

"..." Lucille wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"So, we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?" Riku then asked a question of his own.

"I don't know." Sora shrugged and then rested his back on the tree with his hands behind his head.

"Exactly." Riku nodded. "That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's just the same old stuff. So, let's go."

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi turned to Riku.

"Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks," Riku uttered to the red-haired girl.

"Heh, you're welcome." Kairi smiled sadly.

Lucille continued to look beyond the horizon, wondering what other worlds were indeed waiting for them out there. What Riku said, though, worried her a little. Maybe she was just overthinking things.

Soon it was time for them to go back to the main island before it got too dark. While Sora and Riku lagged behind to talk about something, she walked alongside Kairi towards the docks.

"You okay, Lu? You seem to be lost in thought," Kairi asked with concern for her close friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks. Just kinda been thinking about what Riku said eariler. He just came off as a little cold when talking about Destiny Islands. I know it's not an exciting place, but it's the place we were born and grew up in. You'd think he'd show a little honesty and say he'd miss the place, too." Lucille wondered.

"I'm sure he will, Lucille. Riku's just been more secretive with how he feels about things recently." Kairi smiled and patted her back.

"Heh, you're right. I'm probably just thinking way more deeply than I should." Lucille shook her head of her depressing thoughts. "So, Kairi...like my little idea with the paopu? You should have lost on purpose." Lucille teased.

"Heh heh, oh yeah, you were subtle, alright. To be honest, though, I think it's best to just let things take their natural course." Kairi giggled.

"Aw, so I can't help anymore?" Lucille pouted.

"Heh heh, sorry, it's more romantic this way." Kairi winked.

"Okay, okay, no more involvement." Lucille sighed in defeat.

"You know, I've been wondering, do you think that Riku has a soft spot for you?" Kairi wondered thoughtfully.

"Eh? Not...really. He's treated me as he normally does. I do kinda miss the days when Riku would tell Sora or me about things. We never kept any secrets from each other, but nowadays, it seems everyone is doing just that. It's a little scary to think about." Lucille expressed.

"So you've been thinking a lot, too, huh?" Kairi softly smiled. "It's just that...when Riku looks at you sometimes, I see something there. Not sure what it is, though."

"Huh?" Lucille looked puzzled. Had Riku been looking at her differently? She hadn't really noticed.

"And just what are you two talking about behind my back?" Riku's voice made them both jump from the boy's sudden appearance.

"Why, Riku? Why would you ever say that?" Kairi smiled innocently.

"Just girl stuff, you wouldn't be interested." Lucille defended Kairi. "What were you talking about with my brother, anyway?" Lucille tilited her head.

"Ask him yourself," Riku brushed off and continued onwards to the dock.

"Geez, would it hurt to give me an honest answer?" Lucille grumbled.

"Sis! Kairi! Ready to go home?" Sora waved to both of the girls as he approached them.

"Yup, tomorrow we've got a busy day, so, Lucille, no oversleeping~" Kairi playfully poked.

"I make no promises." Lucille playfully poked back. With that, the three followed Riku to the remaining three boats and rowed all the way back to the main island, before the sun sank into the ocean entirely.

Night time had fallen over the islands, and, by now, most of the residents were fast asleep. At times like this, Lucille really envied the fact her brother could sleep through anything.

They spent most of the evening eariler just talking about all the things they planned on doing when they left on their raft in search of other worlds. Sora had always been an explorer at heart, so he would probably want to see as many worlds as he could.

When it came time for them to go bed, they wished each other good night, and she promised him that she would wake up on time tomorrow.

In the darkness of her room, with nothing but the rays of moonlight from her window to luminate the bedroom, she lifted a wooden sword in one hand in the air as she lost herself in her thoughts.

While she was nowhere near as skilled as Riku or Sora, who had been sparring with each other with toy swords since they were children, she still did her best to learn how to fight with a sword herself, in case, when they did find other worlds, she'd be able to protect herself and her friends alongside them.

Of course, if it came to a duel against Riku or her twin brother, she would lose rather miserably to them. Still, she felt confident enough that she could fight in her own corner if needed. Her forte lies in her knowledge. Thanks to being bedridden for a large part of her childhood, she had read countless books to kill time. It was mostly children stories at first. Gradually, as she got older, she upgraded to more difficult books which normally would be read by an adult, not a child. She also managed to somehow find her mother's secret collection of romance novels. Who knew their mom was such a romantic when she was their age?

Either way, she gained much knowledge from those books. Hopefully, all that knowledge would be put to good use when they go out and find other worlds beyond their island home.

Her thoughts went back to Riku and what he had said eariler. She was probably overreacting, but back then, she felt really hurt by that statement. Sure, the islands were small and they'd probably explored every inch of their world, but this was still their home, a beautiful world filled with a warm light, on which they were surrounded by people who loved them and she loved dearly.

So to hear an opinion like Riku's from someone she cared about, it almost sounded as if he had taken their world for granted. She was probably overthinking it all and misunderstanding Riku's words, but, at the time, that's how they came across to her.

With a sigh, she placed the wooden sword next to her bedside window, pulled the covers over herself, and closed her eyes, trying to enter the world of dreams and leave these thoughts behind to ponder over tomorrow.

"Stupid Riku...Why can't you be more honest with us?" She muttered quietly as sleep finally laid claim over her consciousness, and she left the world of reality behind.

And so ends the first chapter. Did you guys enjoy it? =3

I hope that this chapter is one of many to come. I had this story brewing in my mind for a while now, so I have a rough idea how the first few chapters will go. Sorry if the first chapter seemed a little rushed. I kinda wanted to get the pilot chapter out of the way, so I can plan out how the next two chapters are going to go. =3

I hope that you will continue to read this story and enjoy the tale as it unfolds.

So, until next chapter, happy reading, folks! Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!