Kairi thinks about cutting her hair a lot these days.

While she sits in class, aimlessly twirling the tips of her hair around her fingers as her teachers review final exam schedules, she thinks about cutting it short, as short as she wore it when she was little. (How weird is that? Fourteen years old suddenly feels little).

Mostly, though, it's a problem when she trains. Her neat ponytails and tightly wound braids always wind up loose and plastered to her neck with sweat by the end of a session. Her bangs slip out of clips and always wind up in her eyes, and she can't afford such limited vision. (How Riku manages hair in his eyes, she has no idea—but then again, he did spend so much time blindfolded…)

Kairi's noticing that she's starting to look different in the mirror fixed to the door of her closet. She's always been a skinny girl, but now, when she puts on a bathing suit to swim after a long day, her muscles are toned and actually visible. Her palms are calloused (but no longer cracked and bleeding, like they were the first few weeks) and her skin's growing tanned and freckled from so much activity outside. She hasn't been this freckled since she was a child.

She's not the only one who's different though. Riku's hair has grown longer and longer (he wears it in a ponytail these days, with the heat). Sora is no longer the scrawny, gawky thing he used to be. They've grown about a foot between the two of them, and Sora is almost eye-to-eye with Riku now. She's taller, too, but only just clears their shoulders. She looks up to speak to them now, and can't remember when that started.

Maybe if she cut her hair, they'd follow suit. They've all become static since returning home. She could cut her hair, and maybe drag Riku along with her… and then of course Sora would tag along. Maybe the three of them could spend some time together, the way it used to be.

Yes, she definitely needs a haircut.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or plot points referencing any of the games in the Kingdom Hearts series.