The Reason Why

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all its characters belong to Tetsuya Nomura sensei and Square Enix.

Author Note: Review. Don't review, it doesn't matter because I had a great time writing this and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Synopsis: This is the story of why Kairi fell in love with Sora at first sight. It's all meant in good fun. I hope it gives you a laugh. (Oneshot)

Kairi sat in one of the many flower meadows that surrounded Radiant Garden. A small frown creased her forehead as she remembered the lecture she had received from the guards that morning as she had attempted to leave the castle.

Dilan and Aeleus regarded the girl with indifference, but while Dilan did so out of a false sense of superiority, Aeleus was reserved by nature and as a result earned one of Kairi's brighter smiles. A gruff cough brought her attention to Dilan, "I hope you have no intention of venturing outside today young miss, we guards have enough duties and I would loath to add babysitting to the list". Kairi pouted at this "I'm not a baby and I don't need you to look after me, I'm just going out for a little while", she gave a small huff as she crossed her arms.

This show of defiance clearly annoyed Dilan but earned the slightest smirk from Aeleus. Noticing his comrades' rare display of amusement and feeling it was at his expense Dilan glared at Kairi "you have heard of the monsters terrorizing Radiant Garden at the moment, have you not? I'm sure a small child like yourself, would make a perfect snack for them". At this Kairi's eyes widened and sure he had made his point Dilan turned and strode back towards the gate. Aeleus simply followed saying nothing.

That should have been the end of it however her Grandmother had been ill and Kairi was desperate to help her feel better. She had remembered that her Grandmother always smiled when Kairi brought her flowers. With this thought in mind Kairi had snuck out of the castle and gone to the secluded meadows on the outskirts of town where she knew beautiful wild flowers grew.

Sitting with a bouquet of wild flowers in her lap Kairi was weaving a garland for her Grandmother. Happy with her progress and imagining the look of joy on her Grandmothers face Kairi started to hum to herself as she added the finishing touches. Her delight was cut short though, as a high pitched squeak interrupted her thoughts. Quickly looking around Kairi noticed a small blue puddle to her left that had not been there before, thinking it was strange she picked herself up and began to walk carefully towards it.

Before she could take another step the 'puddle' erupted from the ground taking the form of a small blue creature with red eyes and antenna like ears. The shock of the creature sudden appearance caused Kairi to stumble back, dropping the flower crown as she tried to regain her balance. Fearing the creature might attack her Kairi shielded her face and scrunched her eyes shut.

She was confused though when nothing happened. She knew the creature was still there as she could hear the occasional curious squeak. Gathering her courage the girl lowered her arms and slowly opened her eyes.

As she had guessed the creature was still there but it made no move to attack her. Instead it seemed more interested in the flower crown that now rested on the ground between them. The creature moved slowly and continually surveyed the area around itself; it seemed the slightest noise would cause it to flee. It approached the scattered flowers and fallen crown and began to sniff as if intrigued by them. Seeing this Kairi's own curiosity began to rise as she watched the small creature carefully inspect the meadow it found itself in. Kairi had heard tales from the guards, all about the fearsome monsters that suddenly appeared to play tricks and attack people, but the creature before her was so small and actually quite cute, once the initial shock of how it had appeared wore off. This couldn't be one of the monsters she was warned about.

Tentatively she sat near the creature, watching it carefully as it continued to study the flowers she had dropped. Feeling brave Kairi decided to inch closer to the creature, when it didn't react she decided to move a little closer still, but the creature ignored her, far more interested in the intricately woven crown. She hardly noticed when she began to stretch a hand forward to touch it.

This was when the creature looked up.

Kairi froze.

Her outstretched hand was mere inches away from touching one of the blue antenna like ears, but its red eyes were now completely focused on Kairi. She didn't know what to do, part of her wanted to run away, but another part, a stronger part wanted to find out what this creature was. She made her decision.

"H…hello" her voice was quiet but friendly, and the smile that lit up her face was genuine.

The small creature flicked its ears at the sound of Kairi's voice; it then tilted it head slightly and carefully inspected her outstretched fingers. Kairi remained perfectly still; she didn't want to startle it.

Seemingly deciding that she held no danger the creature let out a cheerful squeak and moved closer to her. Taking this as an invitation Kairi gently placed her hand on the creatures head and began to pet it.

A delighted giggle rang through the air as the creature nuzzled Kairi's hand; the creature tilted its head to the side at the sound of her laugh, before curling up in her lap and releasing a contented sigh.

Looking down at the creature resting in her lap Kairi started to wonder what she should call it. She couldn't keep referring to it as a creature; it was far too cute for that. "Do you have a name?" she asked her voiced filled with innocent curiosity. Inquisitive red eyes met hers and seeming to understand it shook its head. Overjoyed by the realisation that the little creature could understand her Kairi smiled, "would you like me to give you one?" at this the creature blinked as if surprised before vigorously nodding and releasing a series of excited squeaks.

Laughing again Kairi began to think about what would be a good name. She tried a few in her head and spoke some out loud but they were all rejected, either by her or the creature, who would give its head a small shake to indicate no. Inspiration struck when Kairi looked up to the sky.

"Dusk?"

The creature looked intrigued so she explained "because you're the same pretty blue colour as the sky just before the sun sets". Considering this for a moment the creature jumped from Kairi's lap and sank into a puddle, it then quickly circled her several times before stopping in front of her and taking its original form, squeaking happily.

A huge grin spread across Kairi's face "I guess that means you like it". Glad to see he was happy she picked him up and hugged him close to her chest.

Placing Dusk back on the ground an excited twinkle entered Kairi's eyes, "would you like to see where I live? It's really beautiful". One quick nod from Dusk and Kairi took off running towards the hill at the edge of the meadow. Looking back to make sure he was following, Kairi saw the now unmistakable blue puddle weaving through the wild flowers.

Near the top of the hill the glistening towers of Radiant Garden dominated the skyline, the fountains that nurtured the flowers the city was famous for cast flecks of colourful light over the white washed walls of the castle and surrounding town.

Reaching the top Kairi sat and started to point out what the different towers were used for as well as the many aqueducts that joined them.

Enjoying the pleasant sound of Kairi's voice Dusk curled up in the grass next to her, occasionally flicking his ears to show that he was listening. This was how they past the time until it the sun began to set, noticing this Kairi ran down the hill to retrieve the flower crown she had made for her Grandmother. Dusk followed and Kairi laughed as he chased her, occasionally morphing into a puddle to go faster.

The sound of air rushing over the grass was all the warning she was given.

A shrill squeak escaped Dusk before the blade came down, a swift slash and all that remained of him was a thin cloud of blue smoke that all too soon faded as Kairi watched with wide eyes.

The blade responsible vanished in a trail of white lights as its wielder turned to face Kairi. A reassuring smile graced the blue haired woman's' face as she took in Kairi's grief stricken and scared features. "It's alright now" the woman cooed "the monsters gone, you don't have to worry now".

Tears began to trail down Kairi's face as she realised her little friend who just moments ago had been resting on her lap, who had listened to her as she had talked about nothing, who she had only met today, was gone and the person responsible now stood before her expecting her to be grateful.

She cried.

It was all she could do, she was small and weak so she couldn't protect her friend, and all she could do was cry.

So she did.

Vanitas rested on one of the many stone cliffs surrounding the Keyblade Graveyard; he lay on his back staring at the clouds as they pass over head, his feet dangled over the edge and he allowed his mind to wonder as he took in the memories and emotions the unversed sent back to him as they were destroyed.

He paid little attention to individual details as they were much the same as the next but he felt the pain of each unversed as it disappeared, in a way the pain was his own, as each unversed was born of his emotion. For the most part the unversed were formed from his hate and anger, his Master was all too pleased to provide him with fuel for these emotions.

These less than pleasant thoughts came to a halt when a very peculiar set of memories returned to him. A wide meadow full of wildflowers overlooked a castle, nothing strange about that, it was the world he had visited two days ago. What was it called again? Radiant Garden or something like that, it didn't really matter. What was strange were the emotions the unversed had been feeling before it had returned to him.

From the memories that he received Vanitas could see that this unversed was unlike any unversed he had created, but this did not surprise him as it should have. He could remember every unversed he spawned and he could remember what emotion he had been feeling that brought them into being. This one had been born from his feelings of loneliness, which was rare because when this type of unversed manifested he usually destroyed it himself, unwilling to acknowledge such a weak emotion. But this one had been so much smaller than the unversed he normally generated and so he had disregarded it, believing it would quickly perish at the hands of a Keyblade wielder or the other unversed.

He hadn't been wrong but what he hadn't expected were these emotions it had returned to him. Fledgling feelings of curiosity, excitement and joy, all brought about by the smile of a young girl, but there had also been sadness, not only from the unversed but the little girl as well. Just before it had completely disappeared the unversed had caught a glimpse of the young girl. She was crying.

Why? He couldn't help but wonder.

Sitting up he raised his hand and summoned his Keyblade, his gaze fixed on the blades that littered the valley below. Each blade held the memories of its wielder, all the worlds they had visited all the friends they had made and all the emotions they had felt. Usually the memories contained within the Graveyard only helped to fuel his rage, but very rarely he found himself wondering through them trying to understand the different emotions that were so alien to him. The little unversed had given him a small taste of what it meant to feel these emotions for himself. As he continued to stare he found himself beginning to feel annoyed, the image of the crying girl would not leave his mind and for some reason that bothered him.

Sighing he stood as with no apparent command a dark portal opened next to him.

As he emerged from the dark corridor a meadow bathed in the golden light of twilight filled his vision. Amongst wild flowers two figures could be seen, the taller of the two, who Vanitas recognized from the memories he received from Ventus, a girl called Aqua was trying to console the young girl.

Taking in the scene Vanitas couldn't help but smirk, Aqua had become so flustered with her inability to calm the crying child that she hadn't been able to sense that they were no longer alone. The usual calm composure that Aqua strove to maintain had been completely discarded, she knelt before the girl but every time she went to touch her to check if she was injured the girls' cries only intensified.

It was all he needed.

In an instant he stood behind Kairi, a wave of dark energy hit Aqua before she could react knocking her back several feet away from both Vanitas and the girl. Quickly recovering with a small flip to regain her balance Aqua took a defensive stance and summoned her Keyblade, but the boy was gone.

Her eyes tore across the field searching for her attacker, but he was nowhere in sight. It wasn't until she felt a cold chill run up her spine that she knew where he was. Tightening her grip on the Keyblade she turned to strike the boy standing behind her. Vanitas met her blade with his own; the shocked look frozen over her features was priceless. Finding her wits she managed to scowl before being overpowered and once again thrown back. "A mask!" she exclaimed as she stood "You're the boy Ventus mentioned."

The reference to his weaker half was the final straw.

"Time to give the unversed a little fun" the malevolent smirk hidden behind his mask was clear in his voice.

As he lowered his Keyblade it dissolved into darkness, curiosity burned in Aqua's eyes but she refuse to lower her guard.

It made no difference

Before she could react a portal of pure darkness opened beneath her feet, she sank quickly but she continued to struggle grasping for the edge of the portal with hope of being able to pull herself out. It was no use; claws emerged from the portal and grabbed her outstretched hand. She tried to defend herself with her Keyblade but the shadows seemed to cling to it as they continued to drag her down. With the last of her strength she screamed as she was pulled beneath the shadows and the portal closed.

Vanitas was left standing alone in the meadow with Kairi. She was no longer crying her tears had been frozen by a look of abject terror. She had been angry at the blue haired woman for destroying Dusk; she had wanted her to disappear but what the boy had done was too cruel, the terrified scream of the blue haired woman still echoed in her ears.

Kairi didn't dare to move, she had stopped breathing all for the hope that the boy wouldn't notice her and leave.

All hope faded when the boy faced her.

Kairi could see her own terrified features reflected in the black mask, her own fearful eyes staring back at her. The boy walked towards her and knelt before her, as he evaluated her his head tilted slightly, as scared as she was Kairi still noticed how similar the movement was to Dusk's.

The boy extended a hand to her "can you stand?" his voice was calm and had lost the cruel edge it had contained when he had fought the blue haired woman, however Kairi was still afraid.

What could only be described as an exasperated sigh escaped from the boy; with one swift motion he reached up and removed his helmet.

If it was possible Kairi's eyes grew wider, as the helmet was removed gravity defying black spikes were revealed framing a fine featured face, but it was his eyes that held Kairi's gaze, blazing yellow met her sky blue. His eyes contained none of the hatred that had laced his voice like poison; instead they seemed to hold a deep sorrow that she could only identify as loneliness. Once again he extended his hand to her and this time she took it.

The courage the little girl had shown impressed him, for a moment he had thought she was going to pass out from shock, but she hadn't, instead she had been brave (or naïve) enough to take his hand and now she stood before him all traces of her fear slowly being replaced with childish wonder and curiosity.

Now that she stood before him he could see why the unversed had approached her. It was all due to her heart, as a being born of pure darkness he had the ability to sense the darkness present in a persons' heart, even if they tried to hide or suppress it he would be able to see it. However he could not find a trace of darkness in the girls' heart.

As expected of one of the seven princesses.

The unversed, like the heartless were creatures of darkness, they found themselves drawn to light with the single minded instinct to extinguish it. Yet here she was far from the protection of the town, how had she not been attacked?

He was drawn back from his thoughts by the sound of soft sniffling; the girl had started crying again. He sighed again thanks to the unversed he knew what was wrong and mercifully he knew how to stop it.

"Your name?" his question was not spoken unkindly but the abruptness of it threw Kairi. "K…Kairi" she managed to stammer as she wiped away her tears looking him straight in the eyes, a ghost of a smile that didn't reach his eyes appeared on his lips as the girl continued to demonstrate her naivety.

Placing his hand on the ground he concentrated as he remembered the memories and emotions the little unversed had transferred to him, after a moment a smaller version of the dark portal that had dragged Aqua away materialized.

The fear that had begun to return to Kairi almost instantly dissipated.

Emerging from the portal Dusk shook off the clinging Shadows and stared at Kairi. She couldn't believe her eyes, she had seen him disappear but here he was perfectly fine. As before she tentatively stretched out her hand towards him, not from fear but from pure disbelief; unlike before her hand didn't have a chance to reach him, as soon as he saw Kairi reaching towards him he pounced, jumping into her arms with a happy squeak and in the process knocking her over.

A flood of questions rushed form Kairi as she landed amongst the wild flowers hugging the little unversed close to her chest "Dusk you're ok? How, I thought you were gone, but you're ok?" A huge smile broke out across her face as tears of joy picked at her eyes; she knew Dusk couldn't answer her questions but she was just so shocked he was back.

Vanitas remained quiet as he watched the happy scene before him unfold. If someone were to ask him why he had brought back the small unversed he would not be able to answer, the reason being he wasn't too sure why he had done it himself. His musings were interrupted when he felt his Master summon him.

Turning his back he summoned a portal and began to walk through when he was stopped by a light tug on his arm. Looking down he could see that Kairi had grabbed his arm "you're leaving?" curiosity and something else he couldn't identify tinged her voice.

"Yeah I have to go"

Kairi pouted at this "I don't even know your name, you know mine but you didn't tell me yours, that's unfair".

He could see the determination in her eyes and for that he answered "Vanitas".

"…Vanitas? That's a weird name" her voice was serious but she smiled "thanks for saving Dusk".

He smirked and for a fraction of a second his Topaz eyes softened as he patted Kairi gently on the head. Her smile broadened and she let go of his hand as Vanitas walked through the dark portal and it faded back into shadows. Kairi was once again left alone in the meadow tightly clutching Dusk in her arms unwilling to let him go for fear he would vanish.

Looking up at the sky she could see the first stars beginning to glow in the evening light and she took comfort in the fact that her and the dark haired boy were still under the same sky.

…

Meanwhile a lone portal opened in the courtyard in front of the entrance to the castle in Radiant Garden. A blue haired young woman was tossed from the shadowy depths of the portal and hit the ground hard. She was barely conscious but fear could clearly be seen in her eyes. Vanitas casually emerged from the portal, his mask back in place and his arms folded across his chest, completely at ease. Glaring down at Aqua's prone form he uttered one sentence "I'll keep you around…never hurts to have a backup" and with that he left.

END

For Mako: June 2007- December 2013, my little ferret who was taken before his time