The Songs in Our Hearts Book One: Reaching Out

Chapter Two: A Reason to Leave

There was one thing Riku knew he would miss from the islands: the sunset on the ocean. The way the warm colors bounced off the waters edge and painted the evening sky was always breath-taking. Maybe there would be a sunset that looked the same out there— in the outside world.

For a while now, worlds beyond the island's ocean intrigued Riku. Somewhere out there was some kind of answer he had to know. Why this world? Why this prison surrounded by water? he asked himself. Riku leaned back agaist the paopu tree, his blue-green gaze still focused on the setting sun. The raft the three – mostly him – had been working on was practically finished, and all they had left to do was gather supplies for the trip.

Soon.

"Hey, Riku," Sora greeted as he climbed onto the curved part of the poapu tree. Kairi followed Sora's actions.

"Hey," Riku responded, giving Sora and Kairi a slight wave. A comfortable silence fell over the three; this is was what Riku loved about this friend group. There were never any awkward silences or misunderstandings. The three of them were just that close, especially Sora and Kairi. Riku frowned to himself a little bit. Kairi, the girl who he really could not deny the slight crush he had on, had taken his best friend away. In some ways, the two had left him behind, but Riku tried to be happy for them. Kairi was just too pure, and Sora wasn't as observant as Riku was to notice how their friendship had changed when Kairi came to the islands.

"So, Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora broke the silence.

"Could be," Riku simply stated, keeping his focus on the sunset. "We'll never know by staying here," he added.

Sora bent forward and asked, "But how far could a raft take us?"

"Who knows? If we have to, we'll think of something else," he answered, running his fingers through his hair. In all honesty, however, he couldn't think of another way off the islands if the raft did not work. This worried him because if the raft didn't get them far then their only chance of seeing the outside world would be a failure. It had to work.

"So," Kairi started to say in a nervous voice. She seemed to notice this as she cleared her throat right away. "Suppose you get to another world." A short laugh interrupted her statement. "What would you do there?" she inquired.

Caught off guard, Riku thought for a moment and said, "Well, I haven't really thought about it." His aquamarine eyes were focused on the ground now. "It's just... I've always wondered why we're here on this island," he admitted. "If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... then ours is just a little piece of something much greater," Riku elaborated a bit more, hoping the other two understood. "So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

"I don't know," the younger boy mumbled.

"Watch out, Sora!" Riku heard Kairi shout. Looking out of the corner of his eye, Riku saw that Sora was now lying down on the tree. "You almost nailed me in the face," she scolded light-heartedly. The three of them laughed.

"My bad..." Sora apologized. Riku smiled at them.

"Anyways, we don't know, and that's why we need to go out there and find out," he explained, walking forward a little bit. Riku's expression darkened a slightly. "Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go."

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" the girl asked, her voice was distant.

Turning to Kairi, Riku told her, "Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this." From where he was, Riku could see two things: Sora looking off in another direction like he always did when he was either embarrassed or upset (and it was pretty obvious as to why), and Kairi staring at the ocean below them with a worried expression. Hoping it would cheer her up, Riku said, "Kairi, thanks."

Kairi huffed a little bit before saying, "You're welcome." Riku went back to the tree trying to figure out why she seemed so upset and why she wouldn't say anything.

"Hey, it's getting late," Sora pointed out, pulling himself into a sitting position once more. "Maybe we should head back. I wouldn't want to miss dinner," he suggested. Everyone had agreed. As Sora and Kairi got onto the bridge, Riku tried to think of a way to at least cheer Sora up. Quickly, the silver-haired teen climbed the tree to get a paopu fruit.

Once he was back on the ground, he followed the two on the bridge.

"Sora," he called before tossing the paopu to the brunette. Sora caught the star-shaped fruit in his hands. "You wanted one, didn't you?" Riku asked, gesturing to the fruit.

"A paopu fruit...?" Sora murmured as he stared at it. Riku started walking again.

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined," he explained as he passed Sora. It was pretty obvious that both Sora and Kairi had feelings for each other. The only problem was that neither of them were willing to admit it, so Riku knew they needed help. "They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what," Riku reiterated to Sora. "C'mon, I know you want to try it," he laughed.

Stuttering, Sora asked, "What're you talking—" before cutting himself off as he seemed to realize what Riku was talking about. Riku laughed at Sora's reaction, remembering how much of a kid the brunette could be at times.

Once Riku reached the dock, he got into his boat and began to row back to the mainland. Soon, the three of them would be exploring new worlds, right? Letting out a sigh, the teen stopped paddling for a few seconds. That feeling of doubt still lingered as he thought about what they would do if the raft did not work. Riku's grip tightened on the oar.

Riku, a quiet voice called. Snapping his head up, he looked for the source of the voice, but saw nothing. He could see where the entrance to the Secret Place was. Something felt different— almost as if that area was calling to him.

Riku shook his head and told himself, No, I'm just imagining things, and began to row back once more.

Dear Donald,

Please forgive me for leaving so suddenly, but trouble is brewing, and there's no time to lose.

I'm not sure why, but the stars have been blinking out... one by one.
Hate to leave you, but I have to check into this.

As the king, I have a favor to ask you and Goofy...

There is someone out there with a Key—the Key to our survival. I need you and Goofy to find him and stick with him! Got it?

Without that key, we're doomed!
So go to Traverse Town and find Leon...