A/N: Sukairain is japanese for skyline. I think. I used an online translator, so if the translation is a bit off someone please inform me. I chose it because it's prettier than any translation I could find for horizon. But horizon and skyline are basically the same thing.

I've had the idea for quite a while, but I wanted this to be like, the best thing I've ever written, so I've waited till I had a really good hold on where I was going with it. I'm still home sick with Bronchitus, so I took the oppertunity to churn this out. It was quite fun to write.

This is the most fluff I think I have ever written. It's about half as long as Petals but about three times as flufftastically drowned in sokai romantic goop. Takes place directly after KH2. Also, the soundtrack for this oneshot is one of the melodies from the soundtrack of Finding Nemo. That one melody just makes me think "sokai". I listened to it in my head as I wrote this. I need to get the soundtrack.

EDIT: If you find the Finding Nemo soundtrack at Walmart . com, you can get an idea of the score i'm talking about if you click on "Nemo egg (Main Title)", "Finding Nemo" and "Fronds like these" the particular score starts playing at the end of the "Fronds like these" sample. But I love that score in any instrumentation. especially the piano version. Also if you find the Finding Nemo soundtrack at fye . com, and listen to the "Nemo egg (main title)" it really gets a section of my "sokai theme song"

Because Sora is such a sap we all know he can be romantic.

Disclaimer: Let's compare and contrast. Tetsuya Nomura is an adult Japanese man who lives in Japan, works for Square Enix and owns Kingdom Hearts. I am sixteen year old American girl who is currently home sick with Bronchitus and doesn't even have her learner's permit. I also don't own the song "Beyond the Sea" which I reference somewher is this.

S U K A I R A I N

.:(horizon line):.

where the sea meets the sky

She shrugs. After all, he's home, and he'll be hers forever anyway, so his other friends can hug him first.

She can't help but notice that Riku at least had the decency to stand back and let them have their moment.

To bad Sora's other friends didn't .

But Kairi can wait. Because he's home. He's home. And she's truly happy for the first time in over a year.

So patiently she waits; waits while they tackle him into the waves, just as she had planned to do herself. Except she would have kissed him, and they obviously aren't going to do that. And now she has his attention, and her charm, and as soon as she pulls him out of the waves she throws her arms around him and knocks him right back into them.

She doesn't kiss him then, even though she'd like to. Because even though she might have kissed him if just Riku was standing there, it feels too awkward with all his other friends around. He's in a daze, and so is she and they both know they'll never hear the end of it. All she's done is hug him, and Riku's already sending them that look that says, "Get a room."

His friends pull the sopping teens up out of the crashing waves and back onto the dry sand. They all surround Sora, and for a moment Kairi is pushed out of the way. But for the moment, she's okay with that.

Everyone's talking, and Sora can't keep up with who's saying what. Then he notices Kairi's walking away, down the beach. She turns her head and sends him a coy look, and suddenly whatever his other friends are talking about is beyond meaningless.

Sora pushes past them, smiling involuntarily. "Hey, I'll, uh, I'll catch you guys later." And he sprints after her, not really caring whether or not his friends heard him.

They watch him go; each with a unique reaction. Riku is smirking; Goofy smiles knowingly, as does Mickey; who understands because he's married and Riku has told him all about the two. Only Donald is oblivious. He begins to go after Sora, quacking loudly, but Riku stops him.

"Let them have their moment."

Donald is still confused for a moment, until Goofy nods and proclaims.

"Twitterpated."

Donald understands now, and they all can't help but burst out laughing as they watch Sora and Kairi walk further down the beach, knowing they won't see their friend for a while. After all, she saw him first.

They walk in silence.

It is strange, since it is the first time they have spent any real time together in over a year, and there is so much to say. But for the time being they revel in the silence. They are still within viewing distance of their friends, and until they are out of sight, they walk as if they are nothing more than the best of friends.

Sora is strangely calm. He should be nervous, but something in Kairi's smile relaxes him; washes over him in waves. Every glance makes him blush. But he is not nervous. Adrenaline is running low after this day. He has had enough excitement for one day and now all he can be is calm.

He doesn't know what will come out of this. Kairi is unpredictable, uncontrollable; as wild and free as the sea she is named for.

"Do you think its true, what they say about falling in love with your best friend? That it's a bad idea?" She asks, as they pass through the door to the Cove. He lets her go first, of course, because what kind of potential boyfriend would he be if he didn't?

Her question surprises him, and he is strangely thankful that his heart is too tired to pump any faster.

He shrugs, not looking at her. She knows the answer she wants, and she knows the answer he's going to give. "Who better to fall in love with than your best friend? After all, they already know you inside and out." She smiles at him, and slips her slim, smooth hand into his rough calloused one, and Sora knows he has given the correct answer.

"I always thought the same thing."

She pauses at the beginning of the wooden bridge, leans down and slips off her shoes, pulling him toward the shallows beneath the bridge. Sora slips off his own sneakers and follows her, shivering as his feet meet with the cool water. Kairi giggles at him, and pulls him along.

Sora isn't sure where they are heading, only that Kairi seems to have some destination in mind.

Soon they stumble across their dilapidated raft, and, after deciding that it is beyond repair, they decide to turn it into a bonfire for two. The sun has almost disappeared below the horizon, and the sea and the sky almost appear to be one giant expanse of blue.

And then it hits him.

It is just Sora and Kairi now. No Heartless, no nobodies, no Riku, no Donald or Goofy, no King Mickey; just the two of them. Alone, together, for the first time in over a year.

Kairi then discovers the battery-powered CD player she had left in a box by the palm trees long before she went to look for him. She used to spend a lot of time out here, she says. Just waiting for him. This makes her sad, and Sora wants to fix that. She has plenty of music with her, and he suggests that they dance.

His proposal comes out awkwardly; not casually as he had tried to make it sound.

Kairi lets the suggestion sink in, and then she smiles, and begins searching for some suitable music. She knows they will run through all of the music eventually, but the first song she plays matters. She knows just the song to pick.

It is a simple melody, light and deep, all at the same time. She always felt it was their song. The song was about a wanderer, far from home, singing about his lover, who was waiting for him on a distant shore, somewhere beyond the sea.

She starts the song playing, then smiles at him. He is smiling awkwardly, and she knows that this is about as far as he has managed to think this through. The song is about them, she feels, and even though the song is from the man's point of view, she sings anyway, because Sora cannot sing, and even if he could he wouldn't. That and she knows he will like hearing her.

And that he does. He smiles as she sings, voice light and pure.

She wraps her arms around him and they dance; simply swaying, for the most part, and every now and then he spins her.

Sora has never felt so unsure of himself, but Kairi calms him; her presence soothing him in a way he cannot explain or understand.

She flutters her eyelids at him mid spin, and Sora melts. Her flirting is always subtle; it always has been. It's because it never took much to make Sora melt when it came to her. Her flirting with Riku was always pronounced and dramatic. Numerous hair flips and ridiculous giggles.

It always made Sora mad to see her flirt with Riku. But it was her way of teasing him; Sora saw that now. She flirted with Riku because it was as far as the two of them would ever go. Like the waves that crashed on the shore, only to recede again; whereas the sea always reflected the sky.

They just keep dancing. Song after song, half asleep in each other's embrace. They are tired, but they don't want to stop. Far into the night. There will be time to sleep tomorrow. Tonight it is just them.

They need nothing more than simple melodies and ballads; their hearts will do the harmonizing. Kairi sings with some songs, and Sora relishes the sound.

Other than that, they are silent. Words are pointless.

None are said, none are needed.

He pulls her close, and holds her there as they sway. She rests her head on his shoulder. He smiles down at her, and she smiles into his neck. Sora has never felt so unsure of himself; and never has he been so aware of just how much they have both changed. She is no longer the little girl that he left behind all those months ago. She is a young woman now, and Sora is surprised that this doesn't worry him.

Suddenly all sorts of other ridiculous things worry him, though. Like all the other boys who will undoubtedly fight him for the beautiful girl in his arms. And does he smell? Surely he must stink. He just had an epic battle with an entity of pure evil; surely he must be really sweaty and stinky. But then it occurs to Sora that he fell into the ocean, and so he probably just smells like salt water. Not like that is a whole ton better. And what if her father won't let him date her?

Sora begins to worry, and maybe Kairi senses this, because she looks up at him and smiles, and suddenly all his worries are swept away in the ocean current. She rests her forehead against his and closes her eyes, just enjoying being with him.

They'll never hear the end of this tomorrow. Their friends will tease them till kingdom come and Riku will comment about how it's about time and they'll blush and say that they're just friends even though they'll be lying through their teeth and nobody will believe them.

But for now it is just them. They have no audience but the sand and the stars.

Sora breathes her in and smiles; smiles because she still smells like strawberries and honey. If she still smells the same then it means that not that much has changed, and all is well.

She opens her eyes just enough to look at him. Her eyes are asking the question her lips don't dare form. She is breathing quickly and nervously. Sora's eyes start to close and it's all the answer she needs. He's never been more scared, not by Ansem, not by Xemnas, not by anything the realm of darkness has to throw at him. But now is not the time for fear, and he leans forward anyway, because since when has fear ever stopped him? Gently, nervously, their lips meet, and all else falls away.

Kairi melts in his arms, and pulls closer because her legs are melting and she's not going to be able to hold herself up much longer. Sora doesn't mind holding her up. He's smiling in spite of himself, and so is she; he can feel her lips smiling against his. Even as their tongues dance they are smiling. They keep swaying; this way it is easier to pretend that their legs haven't suddenly turned into jelly, or possibly wet noodles; they can't decide which. A year is much too long, they decide. They mustn't be apart that long again. It simply can't be healthy.

The sun has started to peek up.

Illumination spreads along the horizon line; where the sea meets the sky.

fini

For those who don't know, Sora is japanese for sky, and Kairi is japanese for sea. Hence the whole idea of this fic. Because where does the sea meet the sky? At the horizon, of course!

Reviews make me forget how sick I am. Yes, I am horribly abusing the sympathy card. But at least I'm woman enough to admit it.