When Tomorrow Comes

Disclaims: I only own the idea; the characters, settings, and other miscellany belong to Other People.
Warnings for possible yaoi in future chapters.

--

Kairi looked up at the stars merrily twinkling away, and sighed.

"I wish ... something interesting would happen," she murmured to herself. Riku was incredibly late; there was supposed to be a meteor shower later that night, and they'd agreed to watch it together. Her cell phone beeped quietly at her, and she flipped it open to see Riku's apologetic face accompanying a text message.

"Sorry Kai, mom wouldn't let me go without chores. Be there soon." She closed the phone and let it rest on the ground next to her, wondering what it would be like to live in a home where your mother actually cared for you.

Not that her mother didn't care; it was just that she often cared about her alcohol more. Kairi felt her life slipping away into the nothingness of routine - go to school, come home, do homework, hang with Riku for a few hours, go to sleep and then get up and do it all the same the next day. She had once had great dreams of becoming a veterinarian or a biologist, but her fathers death and mother's subsequent descent into alcoholism stabbed those thoughts right out of her head.

'What will be, will be,' her father used to say, and she said it now to comfort herself.

"What will be... will be." She gasped, looking up: the meteor shower was starting. Stars began tumbling from their places in the sky, shooting through the air and leaving arcs of light behind, slowly at first, but then gaining speed. Soon there were too many for her to watch them all, and she merely piced a part of the sky that was easiest to see.

After a moment, she remembered Riku, and pulled her cell phone up to message him. "Hey lazy bones, hurry it up, you're missing the show."

The message began sending, but then the screen on her phone fuzzed out before going black. She scowled at it. "You're brand new, why are you dying?" she asked it rhetorically. Behind her, she could hear dogs barking, and suddenly the lights all over the islands faded. Glancing around at the sudden darkness, she was very acutely aware of a bright light in the sky.

She looked up as it illuminated everything around her, growing larger and larger as it fell. The lights came back on and her cell phone flickered back to life, saying "Message failed" in blinking letters. The phone was discarded and forgotten, however, as the biggest thing she'd ever seen fall from the sky came into focus. Staring at it, she realized that it was shaped like a gummi ship, though it was no design she'd ever seen before in her life. To her surprise, she realized there was a boy inside moments before it crashed into the water.

A huge wave crashed up the beach, getting her skirt wet, and she waited until it had retreated before throwing her phone down and wading out into the shallow water where the ship sank slowly.

The closer she got, the more she realized that all was not right - it was not only a foreign gummi ship, but the boy inside was unconscious, blood pouring down the side of his face. The ship was burnt as well; he hadn't taken normal gummi entry procedures, and entered directly through the gummi-corrosive atmosphere.

He's going to drown in there if I don't get to him! she thought, and kicked off the sandy bottom, swimming powerfully towards the reef. Above her, the meteor shower continued unabated.

The last edge of the gummi ship slipped beneath the water even as she reached it. Seeing no other alternative, she took a deep breath and dove under after it.

Years spent growing up on the islands made her a powerful swimmer, easily able to open her eyes and see blearily through the water. She reached the ship with little difficulty, then suddenly saw the problem - he was unconscious, and wouldn't be able to assist her in his rescue. Briefly she considered waiting for Riku to help her, but the sight of the water pouring in, filling up the cabin of the ship slowly decided her. She couldn't leave him to drown in his ship, so she'd have to take her chances with him drowning on the way to the surface. She surfaced briefly and took another breath - she was no blitzball player like Riku, Tidus, and Wakka, who could hold their breath seemingly indefinitely. Vaguely in the distance, she could make out Riku wandering onto the beach, alternately looking for her and staring at the sky. She considered calling him, when he caught sight of her cell phone and the blanket she'd left forgotten on the sand. He began hurrying, and she dove back under.

Reaching the dome of the ship, she realized suddenly that she didn't know how to get him out. The minute she opened the dome hatch, water would flood in faster than she could grab him. The water inside was up to his waist, and she decided to take her chances. Kicking at the hatch, she somehow opened it and darted inside. She covered his mouth and pinched his nose shut before pulling him out of the ship and began kicking for the surface.

Her lungs were burning with the need for air, but finally she made it, breaking free of the water with a huge gasp. "RIKU!" she called, waving to her friend as he hunted around the wooded edge to the beach for signs of her. "Help!"

He was in the water before she'd even finished the first syllable of his name, and at 'help' he was at her side, helping her support the boy's body before finally taking his weight entirely.

They dragged themselves up onto the beach, bedraggled and exhausted. "Kai, what ... what happened?" Riku gasped out, wringing his hair out onto the sand. The blood covering the boy had been mostly washed away by the water, and he lay breathing quietly on the sand, looking wet but mostly asleep.

Kairi knelt beside him, examining his clothes and hair. Even wet, his hair stood up away from his head in several auburn spikes, and hanging from his neck was a crown-shaped charm.

His clothes were slightly charred, but clearly of no design or fabric she'd ever encountered.

"Kai," Riku said again, and once she'd finished making sure he wasn't more seriously injured than he looked. She looked up at her long time best friend, and shrugged.

"I was watching the shower and waiting for you and suddenly my phone stopped working, and all the lights went off, and I saw his ship falling into the ocean and it looked like a gummi ship but it's like nothing I've ever seen before and I couldn't just leave him to die so I went out there to get him," she stopped and took a deep breath. Riku stared down at the newcomer.

"Weird clothes, strange gummi ship... I wonder where he comes from. He's not from this world, that's clear. I guess we'll just have to wait until he wakes up and can tell us himself."

"I'll bring him to my house. My mom hasn't come upstairs since ..."

Since her dad had died, she was about to say, but Riku understood without hearing the words.

"She wouldn't care anyway, not like your mom would," Kairi finished. Riku gathered the foreign boy up in his arms, looking surprised.

"He's light," he said, adjusting his grip. Kairi blanched, gathering up her things.

"I hope he's not some kind of criminal," she said, only half-joking. Riku gave her a dirty look, not appreciating her humor.

They snuck the boy up into the guest room of Kairi's house, and Riku set about peeling the soaking clothes off of him while Kairi made sure her mother was as passed out downstairs as she seemed.

"You're so weird," Riku muttered, half to himself and half to the boy on the floor. They were going to put him into the bed immediately, but Kairi had pointed out that it would make the bed wet, and he might get sick. Luckily, Riku had stayed over often enough that he'd just started leaving clothes in the guest room dresser. He stretched out the foreign clothes on the ground, wondering where he could leave them to dry, and then examined the boy again. He was painfully thin, his ribs extremely visible and his collarbone prominent. Above the unhealthy thinness, though, Riku could see muscle definition. With some good meals and some sun, he wouldn't look so bad.

Dressing him was more difficult than undressing him had been, and Riku was down to swearing ineffectually at the clothes for not just throwing themselves onto the boy. He'd at least gotten a pair of boxers, pajama pants, and a tee-shirt onto him, so he was fit for Kairi's company. As if on cue, she knocked lightly on the door.

"Is he okay?" she asked when Riku pulled it open. He nodded, peering down at the boy who'd literally fallen into their lives.

"He's really thin," Riku said. "That's the smallest shirt I have over here, and it's almost too big. I had to pull the drawstring really tight, too. If he wakes up, we're going to have to get him a really good belt, or else he'll have to walk around pants-less."

She giggled slightly, more a release of tension than actual humor. Feeling slightly motherly, she gathered the soaking clothes up off the floor and removed them to the bathroom.

Neither of them wanted to go back outside and finish the storm, and by unspoken agreement they just settled in the room, silently watching over the foreign boy.

---

Several days passed, and Kairi was infinitely glad for the onset of summer vacations. If she'd had to leave him all day during school, she'd have gone stir crazy with worry. Especially when he showed no signs of waking. Riku was over every night, and she was glad that it was normal, or even her mother would have started suspecting something.

They fed him soup and milk, always extremely careful not to let him choke on it. Riku was worried about things like bodily functions, but the bed was always clean when they checked on him.

Kairi had adjusted to him being there within a day; in the morning, she went to the bathroom and showered, and afterwards went in and checked on him. Something drew her attention to his room first that morning, though, and she peeked in and saw him missing from the bed. Shrieking, she lunged for the bathroom door. He was standing slouched over, tugging the pants back up over his hips.

"S-sorry," she mumbled, closing the door. After a moment, it opened again.

"My apologies," he murmured. His voice was much deeper than she'd expected out of such a tiny frame.

"Er... Don't apologize!" she said. "I shouldn't have walked in on you. I was just... I didn't see you, and was worried." He gave her a searching look, and for a moment she wondered if he'd been fleeing because he was a criminal.

After a moment, he dissipated it with a shining smile. "Thank you for worrying," he said. "I am going to sleep a little longer, if I may?" She nodded briefly, and he practically fell back onto the bed, asleep within seconds. Kairi watched him for a few minutes, and then raced for her room.

"Riku! He woke up! He was in the bathroom when I got up today."

Riku's excitement leaked through the phone. "Did you get his name? Anything? Can I talk to him?"

"I didn't ask. I accidentally walked in on him, and I was way too embarrassed about asking about something as stupid as his name."

"It's not stupid!" Riku interjected.

"I think he's gone back to sleep," Kairi interrupted. "He said he was going to sleep a little more. I'll call you as soon as he's up for real, okay?"

"You'd better," Riku grumbled, and closed the connection. Kairi returned to the guest room with a book.

The next thing she knew, she was opening her eyes to a soft noise. Blinking a few times to clear her head, she realized she'd drifted off to sleep in the recliner. The boy they'd pulled out of the gummi ship was sitting on the bed, grinning happily.

"You have awakened," he announced cheerfully.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep," Kairi mumbled, embarrassed. "It's just about supper time, would you like me to bring you some real food?"

He nodded. "And then we may speak," he added. Kairi inclined her head.

"What's your name?" she asked him. He fingered his crown charm for a moment.

"Sora," he said finally. "And may I ask yours?"

She felt unaccountably shy. "Kairi."

He looked a little puzzled. "Kayri?"

"KAI-REE. Kai. Ai." She tried sounding it out for him, but he just shook his head.

"I'll get it sooner or later," he said confidently, and she couldn't argue with him. Kairi went down stairs, wondering if she should bother to avoid her mother. The woman was on the couch, absorbed in whatever game show she was watching. Kairi prepared several sandwiches, and picked up two cans of juice as well, bringing the entire thing upstairs.

"Sorry it's not much, Sora," she said. "But my mom doesn't really cook any more, and I didn't feel like staying down there very long."

"It is food that is not gummi provisions, and that is very welcome, Kayri," Sora said, gobbling down two sandwiches in the spaces between words.

"Oh! I have to call Riku!"

"Ri..ku?" Sora asked, midway through the third sandwich.

"My friend. He helped me the night I found you," Kairi said, dialing Riku's number automatically.

"Kai? Is he awake?"

"Nice to talk to you, too, Riku," Kairi laughed. She could hear the embarrassment over the phone.

"Sorry. I've been going kinda stir crazy here," Riku offered. "Is he awake?"

"He is. His name's Sora." The subject of their conversation looked up at his name. "Yeah, come on over. My mom's in the living room, though, so don't let her catch you."

Kairi flipped the phone closed. "I promised I wouldn't ask you anything until Riku got here, but if you have any questions, I'll talk if you like."

He was silent for a moment. "I am certain I do not have to ask to know I am on a different world. This was not quite what I was aiming for, but... I apologize for the use of your bed and clothing."

"No, no, you're fine," Kairi said. "No one uses this room but Riku anyway."

"Kairi?" Riku's voice sounded in the hallway.

"In here," she called. The door opened, and Riku got his first good look at the boy who'd crashed into Destiny Reef.

He stood from the bed, and bowed deeply, startling Riku. "Hello. My name is Sora," he said formally.

"Er... Riku," the silver-haired boy returned. "It's nice to meet you at last, Sora. Can you tell us why you crashed?"

Kairi jumped, startled at Riku's abrupt questioning.

"I was on the run from the Darkness," Sora said, taking it completely in stride. "My home planet, the home of the good King Mickey, was completely annihilated. I was trying to get to the Rad- er... I believe you refer to it as Hollow Bastion?"

Kairi shook her head. "On the television, they said that it's been renamed to Radiant Garden." Sora looked relieved.

"There are people there who could be of help to me and my cause. It was not my intention to bring my troubles to your planet. You have my apologies."

"Just tell us - what's this 'darkness' you mentioned?"

"The evil in men's hearts corrupted with greed, and gone mad with power. It has become it's own entity, and killed the Superior - the finest scientist in Ansem's labs."

Riku was slowly piecing together parts of the story. "You come from King Mickey's kingdom," he murmured. "And the television has been talking about the other worlds being destroyed."

"Sora, I think you'd better start at the beginning," Kairi said. He looked sad.

"Very well, Kayri. It began before I was born."

--

The scientists in Ansem's labs had been experimenting with Light and Dark, presumably trying to figure out faster ways of travel and communication between worlds. No one knows quite what went on in their secret rooms, but everyone knows this: Something went wrong.

There was a massive explosion in the laboratories; everyone was presumed dead. Gradually, however, Ansem and the rest of his colleagues reappeared, looking different and speaking of fantastic adventures.

No one believed them. They were locked up to a man, and hidden away out of sight. Peace continued to reign. I grew up in a time of blissful years, a golden age of prosperity. Worlds all over the kingdom flourished. My seventeenth celebration was the day Ansem broke free. He and his assistants had been biding their time in their underground prison, becoming one with the darkness. The people that emerged from containment... they were terrifying. They commanded elements as though the whims of nature were simply their servants. The castle was destroyed. We managed to evacuate many of the innocent people, but so many more were killed. My parents... the queen... I wanted to stay behind and fight the mad things the Organization brought with them from that dark underworld, but King Mickey himself shoved me into that gummi ship and sent it out. I was followed.

It was a fierce battle, and even now I am unsure as to who was the victor. Our ships were disrupted while making a jump through zero space, and I lost consciousness. When I came too again, there was a message from the King in the memory banks of the ship. He told me to get to Radiant Garden and regroup with Avalanche, but my pursuer had not been shaken. He attacked as I was making another jump, and that's the last thing I recall.

Kairi gaped at him with tears in her eyes. The uprising at the palace had been on the morning news, but she'd had no idea he'd actually been a part of it.

"You can stay here as long as you need to," Kairi offered. Riku nodded.

"You can borrow some of my clothes if you need them, too," he added. Sora smiled weakly at them both.

"My thanks, you two."

--
TBC