Epilogue:

Three months later

Sora was seeing a doctor regularly, but was fully recuperated. The doctor recommended him not to do heavy lifting or swimming or fighting yet, however. Kairi, Sora, and Luxe were doing fine, all together in his mother's house. They spend their days at the beach with their daughter, Roxas, and Namine. Though they still missed their friend, things were slowly getting back to normal. They had even scheduled a weekend camping trip in the secret place. Something they'd agreed to do annually to remember Riku and his sacrifice. Sora's mom agreed to take care of the baby for their camping trip.

The day of the camping trip was upon them. They spent the day on the island, overlooking the ocean. Sora and Roxas leaned against the tree trunk, and Kairi and Namine leaned against them. Holding each other close and cherishing their lives. When the sun fell lower in the sky. Roxas and Sora began to go collect firewood, while Kairi and Namine enjoyed the sunset. "It's beautiful, isn't it." Kairi said to Namine. "Yeah, makes me so thankful to be alive. And to have Roxas."

"Yeah, I am so thankful to have all of you alive. The only thing that would make it better would be if Riku were still with us." Namine looked down. "I know. We all wish that." Namine tried to change the subject. "So, since we got back, have you and Sora uh…" Kairi could see where she was going with this. She laughed a bit. "No, Nam. We haven't. He's been healing. That's probably the last thing on his mind. Why? Have you and…" She couldn't even finish before Namine answered the question. "Oh yeah, all the time." They both laughed. "I can always count on you to shock me Namine."

"My pleasure."

Sora and Roxas were collecting wood. "Let me help you dude." Roxas took some out of Sora's hands. "Roxas, I appreciate it buddy but I can handle it."

"I don't know, you've been through a lot."

"You fought the same battle I did, besides, I'm eighteen, I got it." Roxas corrected him. "We're in may you're close to nineteen."

"God has it been that long?" Roxas nodded his head. Sora then shook his in disbelief. "Wow. I still remember collecting this wood on this beach to build a raft when I was fourteen." Roxas touched his shoulder. "We all miss him, Sora. But the best way to honor his memory is to live our lives." Sora agreed.

Nightfall came and Sora and Roxas set up a fire on the beach. They all roasted fish, ate, and told stories. Anything to keep their minds on their normal lives. After dinner Roxas stood up and dusted the sand off of him. He put his hand on Namine's shoulder. "Wanna go for a midnight swim?" He asked her. "It's not midnight." She chuckled. He laughed and pulled her up. He took off his shirt and ran into the water, she followed. Sora and Kairi watched on for awhile, until things between them started getting heated. "Let's go for a walk, I don't think we should watch them any longer," Sora said, laughing. Kairi got up and they strolled along the beach, hand in hand, walking slowly and enjoying the night.

They made it up to the waterfall, with the shallow pool. The one by the secret place. The fresh water glistened in the moonlight. "I'm going to get in the water." Kairi shook her head. "Sora, you know what the doctor said."

"Kairi, I'm not swimming. How much swimming can I do In a three foot pond?" She shrugged and smiled at him. "Come on." Sora took off his shoes and shirt and got it. Kairi removed her skirt, shirt, and shoes and followed him. They waded in and got behind the waterfall. There was a rock ledge, not big enough to be a cave, just a little five foot hideout behind the fall. They propped themselves up on it and began talking.

"How are you feeling?"

"Incredible."

"Sora, don't lie. I worry about you sometimes. You've been through a lot."

"I'm not lying. My injuries still hurt a little bit from time to time, but I feel incredible, looking at you." She knew what he meant, seeing as how they were both barely clothed. "Sora," He stopped her from protesting by kissing her. He stopped and waited for her response. "You haven't kissed me like that since.."

"Last year, June 1. Ansem's study." He said. "You remember the exact day?"

"Of course." He kissed her again. She didn't want him to stop, but pushed him away anyway. He needed to focus on getting better. "We can't. I want to but we can't." Sora smiled. "What? You think I'm not strong enough?" He pushed her up against the rock wall, hands behind her head in her hair, and they stood up together. She didn't stop him this time. The feelings she had last time they did this came flooding back. The blood in her veins lit on fire, her heart beat a thousand times a minute, her skin began tingling. The feelings must have been at least ten times stronger than they were before. Before it was the loss of their innocence, just discovering their love for each other. This time, the heat of passion overwhelmed them and possessed their hearts and minds. Their desire greater than anything they'd ever experienced. They ached for each other. He felt the same way, her hands were on his back, clawing him, but gently. He stopped kissing her and buried his face in her neck, kissing her there. She tilted her head back and ran her fingers in his hair. They knew exactly what they were doing this time. This time, Sora managed to tell her he loved her, she reciprocated his feelings.

An hour later, they lay on the rock, holding each other, and watching the waterfall. "We should get back." Kairi said. "Not yet." Sora told her. "I want to be alone with you for as long as I possibly can." He kissed her forehead. They knew that as long as they had each other, they would be happy. There was no better destiny they could think of, than to spend the rest of eternity, just like this; in the each other's arms.

I began writing this story in 2007 when I was eighteen. Four years later, it's finally finished. I wrote it slowly over the course of these years because I only wrote it when I was inspired to. Otherwise it just wouldn't be as good. I can't even begin to describe how much I enjoyed writing it. Especially since Kingdom Hearts 3 may never be put into production, writing this has helped end the story for me. I hope it did for whoever stuck with me to read it. Thank you