Okay. Hate me. Go for it. Though may it please you to know that I will have a bit more time on my hands and another story, Torn (also with a KH theme), will be starting shortly. In fact, it's very likely that I might make a sequel to this with all the characters in high school since this occurred in the summer. Any thoughts on that?

Momo

.:Epilogue:.

Kairi

Kairi, with a sigh of relief, walked out of the hospital, Sora's hand clasped in hers. It'd been a month since the whole "Azumi saves the planet" thing, though Sora'd taken his sweet time recovering from the fight. They walked out to the pier right from the hospital, where Riku and Wakka were waiting.

As they carefully stepped in the boat, Wakka asked "Ready to party, ya?"

Sora laughed, but Kairi was a bit more cautious. "Don't you think he should take it easy?"

"Kai, it's been a whole month…" said Riku.

"But still…" Kairi started, then sighed, "Never mind."

They rowed quickly across the small straight to the island, where Selphie waved and hopped up and down excitedly from the pier.

"Hey! Sora! How are ya?" she shouted.

"Fan-fuckin-tastic!" he shouted back, standing up in the boat to do so.

So much for taking it easy…Kairi thought, rolling her eyes with a slight smile.

The boat bumped slightly as it touched at the dock, and everyone quickly piled out. "Hey! Get your asses up here!" someone shouted from up above. Everyone glanced up to see Azumi waving from the tree house, Tidus standing timidly behind her.

Unfortunately, the whole incident has made Tidus a bit more cautious and shy. Now, he's constantly afraid that he'll have another episode, sending him back to square one. While Azumi has reassured him multiple times that it won't happen again (now that her father is gone permanently), he still is afraid that he could potentially harm the rest of his friends (though not Azumi, since he now knows she can cure him and defend herself).

Sora waved at Tidus, smiling. The boy raised his hand after a moment, returning the grin shyly.

The four boat riders and Selphie walked across the beach. Kairi smiled as the warm sand slipped exfoliatingly between her toes. Their footsteps soon plunked along the wooden boardwalk as they headed up to the tree house. Up the ladder, Azumi and Tidus waited impatiently inside.

"Took ya damn long enough…" mumbled Azumi, though her eye roll soon changed to giggles as Riku walked up to her and nuzzled her neck affectionately, tickling her, before lightly kissing her.

"Rowing's hard work, ya?" said Wakka, hurt that he was so unappreciated. Selphie giggled as his arm slipped unnoticed by the others around her waist.

"Right….well let's not all stand around here like morons," said Azumi, turning away from the group and leading Riku in behind her. The rest followed quickly.

"Inhabitants of Destiny Islands, I give you food," she said, proudly gesturing to the table of delights arranged gorgeously on the table in front of them.

"Dude…That's crazy," said Sora.

"Hey, we've been eating this all month. You on the other hand, have been stuck with shitty hospital food," explained Kairi matter of factly.

"That's true, but this shit's more amazing every time," said Tidus, already filling up a plate.

"The kid's got a point…" Riku noted absentmindedly, though he was already filling up his own plate.

Within half an hour, almost all the food was gone and the sun was beginning to set.

"Wanna go down to the beach?" Kairi asked Sora. He nodded. There was nothing better than watching the sun set off the islands right after the most amazing meal of your life. Everyone else got up too, though Wakka and Selphie headed up to the tree tops to watch (their favorite place for making out and all other activities possible). Riku and Azumi split from the group at the end of the boardwalk, heading over to the other side of the island to watch from the indoor cavern on the other side of the island. Recently, it had become their own private spot, in a sense. Every evening, they headed over to watch the sunset. According to the couple, the sun's reds, oranges, yellows and pinks glittered around the cavern through the hole in the very top, mixing amazingly with the blues and slight greens of the hidden place.

Tidus followed Sora and Kairi down to the beach, which made Kairi worry. She'd wanted to spend some time with Sora alone…

But the boy had other plans. Tidus headed for the docks instead, and Sora shouted curiously, "Where ya headed?" For the first time since Sora had gotten home, Tidus genuinely smiled.

"I have a date."

Kairi smiled, happy that Tidus was beginning to move on with his life. Sora shouted a quick good luck to the blond as he was rowing away, then sat down on the beach with Kairi.

She leaned against him, his familiar scent surrounding her. Dammit, she'd missed him like hell. They were quiet for a moment, just sitting there, watching the sun set from Two separate flaming circles down to where it looked like it was sitting halfway in the water, the ocean dividing it perfectly in half. Light ripples of the sun's essence seemed to travel away on the ocean's tiny, softly rocking waves in shades of rose pinks and yellows.

After the sun was over halfway sunk into the water, Sora broke the silence saying, "Waddaya think Azumi's gonna do?"

Kairi frowned, confused, "What do you mean? For what?"

"School. I mean, it starts in two weeks…"

That surprised Kairi. The summer had blown by so fast, and with Sora in the hospital and now coming home, she hadn't even thought about school starting up again.

"Well…I suppose she'll just have to register at Fortune High. It's not like she's gonna leave Riku anytime soon…" she said, closing her eyes and listening to Sora's heartbeat.

"Yeah…" he replies, as if far away. The last bits of the sun's rays were fading. He lay back, pulling her down with him. Still snuggled next to him, Kairi didn't notice the sun's natural warmth fading.

"You aren't gonna leave me again, will you?" she asked, referring to his hospital time, where he'd actually died completely at one point early on.

"No," he said flatly, confidently as his attention shifted from the darkening sky directly to her. He turned on his side, embracing her as the last of the sun's light left their side of the planet and said, "Never," as he kissed her softly. That one single kiss, to Kairi, almost seemed to banish any thoughts or worries of the Darkness ever returning to their lives as well as the cool of the quickly oncoming night. Kairi smiled, kissing him back more self-assuredly than ever on the south beach beneath the stars.

.:End Shadows of the Past, Epilogue:.

Look for The Challenges of Life,

The Sequel to Shadows of the Past

Coming Soon to