I love you

"Kairi, I love you!" Those words weren't new to Sora. Since they were little he told the girl he loved her. He told it to all his close friends —which were basically just Kairi and Riku. Sora said it quite a lot, being too young to understand the true meaning of love. It was true, though, the trio loved each other a lot and they said so.

The young boy hugged his red-haired best friend tightly, making her giggle. "I love you, too." Then the last of the trio approached them. "Hey, what about me?" Kairi turned to the slightly older boy and gave him a hug, too. "You know you're the best, Riku. And we love you a lot!"

"Yeah!" Agreed Sora, hugging them both. The kids laughed, before going to their next adventure on their little island.

It stayed like this for years until the day Sora began to think differently about love. And Riku, too. The guys stopped saying it to each other of course, but they kept saying it to Kairi and Kairi kept saying it to them.

Eventually Sora couldn't help but feel jealous every time Kairi said these words to Riku. They even had a little contest going how many times they got to hear it and the one who got these words from Kairi the most, won.

Now that he's a grown up —well, if you consider seventeen grown enough— Sora rarely said the l-word. It was weird saying it to Kairi and meaning it just in a friendly way. No, that's impossible now. If he said it to Kairi now, it was his heart speaking. But since Kairi heard it so many times from him, he knew she couldn't tell the difference.

It took a while till he even realized what his feelings for Kairi meant. That this was true love. That she's the one. And when Kairi told him she loved him, his heart beat faster and he couldn't help but hope she'd also mean it in a romantic way. But this hope was crushed, every time she told Riku the same. Now Sora deeply regretted using these words mindlessly and as often as he did.

He wanted to make Kairi understand what he felt for her. Of course there's always the fear that she might not feel the same. That their friendship will end because of that. That she might be so uncomfortable with him around that they won't see each other again. Just thinking about it felt like his heart's being squeezed to death.

But at the same time he couldn't just keep going like this. Soras love for Kairi was as big as the universe and he wanted to show her! He wanted to make her feel special. He wanted her to know that she was the only thing he cared about in his life. He just wanted to be with her. Forever. And beyond.

The worst thing was, he couldn't even ask her if she wanted to share a paopu fruit with him, because they already did it as kids years before they've heard about that sharing one will intertwine their destinies. He was so embarrassed when he found out, then he started to be happy about it and now he utterly regretted it.

But there had to be more ways to tell someone they love them, right? Well, at least now he knew that Riku was no help at all, because when he asked him for advice he just said he needed to figure it out himself.

Though no matter how much the thought about it, he still had no idea what to do. He couldn't keep this up a second longer! His love for Kairi was growing too fast and if he couldn't finally tell her so he might do something else he will regret forever.

So this time with no plan in mind whatsoever, he just told her so. "I love you, Kairi." He said with all his heart, hoping Kairi will understand this time, but her giggle told him otherwise. "I know." Slightly heartbroken, he tried again. "No, I mean...I love you!"

"I know, silly. I love you, too." Sora did his best not to feel anything at her words, because she clearly didn't mean it like he did. "No, you don't understand!" He said desperately, watching her expression turned to one of confusion. "I really do love you!" Kairi clearly didn't didn't know what to say, so there was no other way than to use his last resort.

He grabbed her shoulders, ignoring her surprised look. "I'm sorry." He said, before kissing her and putting all his heart into it. It was like a dream come true and he barely even felt Kairi kissing him back. They were both very breathless when they parted and Sora felt the need to say it again. "I love you."

To his surprise she started giggling again. He could feel his heart slowly breaking into tiny pieces, thinking she's making fun of him. "I know that, Sora." Sora had absolutely no idea what to say and just stared at her with wide eyes. "Did you really think I never noticed? You were only saying this to me the last few years and your eyes always told me the whole story."

The brunette blinked dumbfounded. Was he really that obvious? Well...at least his feelings got through to her, right? "So that means...?" Kairi nodded and now he knew what she meant with his eyes telling her everything. Because now her eyes did the same. "I love you, too." Sora was paralyzed for a few more seconds before he could finally act.

When he was finally able to move again, he enveloped her in a tight hug and picked her up, spinning them both around. "Kairi!" Said redhead squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck. The two teenagers laughed, even when Sora lost his balance and ended up on top of each other on the sand.

Sora broke her fall with his body, making her lying on top of him. But it didn't stay like this, because Sora quickly turned them both around so he's on top. He nuzzled his face in the crook of Kairis neck, still hugging her tightly. And he won't ever let her go again. "You have no idea how much I love you, Kairi."

"I think I can imagine it." Kairi giggled, hugging him just as tight.