Standard disclaimers apply.
A/N: Christmas scribble for mellish. :) I'm too broke to give proper Christmas gifts. D:
I was actually kind of hesitant about doing this option, since she gave me two, but now that it's finished, I find I really love how nice and simple things were for them. Back when things were simple.
Happy holidays in advance, everybody. It's not too long now.
And Then There Were
There were two.
There are two of them, Kairi notes. There are always two of them. You never find one without the other.
One of them, the one with crazy dark spikes on his head—she wonders how he can get them to stand up like that—and a goofy smile, laughs a lot. Loudly, too, whenever he stumbles and trips. Whenever someone else stumbles and trips. And at weird, random things, like seagulls, and the sand between his toes.
Actually, come to think of it, he seems to laugh at everything—and it's so catching that Kairi has to press her mouth into a thin line to keep from joining in when she's not supposed to.
Then there's the other boy, the one she's seen beating out all the others at ball and war games. He's a bit taller and older, and wears his hair kind of in his face—it's silver, like twilight. He also walks kind of like a grownup—or tries to, anyway—his eyes are a little sharp, and the way his lips twist seems to be somewhat more smirk than smile.
He doesn't laugh as loudly or as often as his friend does. But Kairi thinks—just thinks, of course, never says—that she likes it very much when he does laugh. His whole face lights up then, and the sharpness in his eyes goes away a little bit.
She watches the two of them more closely than she'll ever admit. They're an odd match, but, strangely enough, also a seamless fit. Two parts, making up a perfect set.
Kairi sighs.
A perfect set.
Wistfulness melts like spun sugar on her tongue.
And then there was one.
"You wanna come look for sandcrabs?"
Kairi blinks. Suddenly she's staring down at this funny-looking pair of shoes, no doubt attached to a pair of feet attached to someone else—but the noon sun is coming down so brightly onto the sand and she can't look up, so she talks to the shoes.
"Huh?"
"I said," says the voice attached to the person attached to the shoes, and Kairi can hear the grin in every little inflection, "me an' Riku are gonna go look for sandcrabs. Over there, on the other side of the island. Do you wanna come?"
"…Me?"
She looks up then, even if she does have to squint a little against the light. Blue eyes twinkle back at her—a nice blue, like the deep sea, but warm. Water full of sunshine.
"Yeah, you. It'll be fun. And, I mean, you're always just kind of sitting there, and that doesn't look like much fun. Unless you like just sitting there, but why would you…" The boy trails off, awkwardly, but the awkwardness only lasts as long as it takes him to chuckle it off, fingers lacing behind his head. "Anyway. Yeah, there—hey, what are you laughing at?"
She can't do anything to suppress the giggle. It bubbles over quickly, too quickly for her to hide behind a hand, and then the notes are out in the air and away.
"Sure, sounds like fun," says Kairi, returning his grin. "I'll come with you. If you and your friend don't mind…?"
It only occurs to her now that she doesn't know his—
"My name's Sora," he tells her, sticking one hand out for her to shake, and jerks his head in the direction of another figure that waits with folded arms a short distance away. "That's Riku. Don't worry," and here his voice lowers, conspiratorially, "he only looks like a poopypants. But he's actually really, really nice, and he knows all the best places to look for sandcrabs. And, y'know, he was the one who told me I should go and ask you to come with us…?"
There is a brief pause for Sora to draw breath, though it might just be because he's realized he doesn't know her name, either.
"I'm Kairi."
"Kairi? Ooohh, cool name. Let's go, Kairi."
And he takes her by the hand.
Riku is crouched on all fours beside her, fists half-buried in the sand, eyes sweeping back and forth. His first words to her are a soft question, mumbled against the roof of his mouth.
"Where did you come from?"
"Where?" Kairi bites her lip and doesn't meet his eyes—Sora was right, he is very nice, but looking at him still scares her somewhat. "I…"
She trails off, he waits, and they watch Sora running to and fro in the foreground, in the wake of one of those tiny creatures you have to squint to be able to see—even if Riku has told him countless times that it's so much more effective if you sit still and wait for them to come to you.
She has a hard time deciding whether the silence is strange or not—then they hear Sora yell something random and incomprehensible at the sandcrab, and she has to speak now because, strange or not, it's been broken.
"I… I don't really know," she whispers, bites down on her lip again. "I don't remember."
"Oh." There's a flicker of motion; Riku dives, comes up again in an eyeblink with his hands cupped closed. He hasn't missed a beat. "Okay."
"Why?"
"Nothing. I just kind of wanted to know. We've never met anybody… not from here before."
"…Okay."
Another pause.
He must see how unsettled she is by his question, because he peers into her face for a few moments. "Look, I'm sorry. If I ask too many questions, I mean." He clears his throat. "Do you want to hold it?"
He must see how her eyes light up, just a little bit.
"Can I?'
"Sure. Put your hands together, like this. Careful—it might pinch." Riku holds out his cupped hands to her in something of a conciliatory gesture—she can see he's not used to it, not exactly sure how to go about it, but that's okay.
"Do all crabs pinch?"
"Yeah, I guess. You don't have to worry about the little ones, though. They're so small they don't really hurt—yeah, that's it. Now cover the opening, so it doesn't fall out." He passes her the crab—she can't help but giggle a little as she feels it drop into her palms, skittering all over like a mad thing.
"It moves," says Kairi, swallowing the mirth, "like Sora."
"…Don't insult it."
Again it bubbles over before she can push it back. "You're mean!"
Riku almost laughs along—as if to say that where she's from doesn't really matter, anyway, because this is as good as place as any, and it could very well be her place, now, with them—but then…
Another garbled battle cry, a blur, and they see Sora face down on the ground—sand in his hair, sand in his fists, and no crab to show for it.
"AHA! I GOT IT! RIKU! KAIRI! COME QUICK!"
But he doesn't know that yet.
The laugh turns into a sigh as Riku rolls his eyes. "What a dummy. Come on, we'd better make sure he's okay."
"…What do I do about…?" Kairi looks down at the cage of her fingers. Riku merely shakes his head.
"You can let it go for now. We'll catch it again later." His eyes glint—cool green-blue. Water near the shore, so clear the light bends right through. "Bet I can get you the same one."
And he takes her by the hand.
They walk home together that evening, as the sun sinks into a little pool of red that stains the beach and the water both. They go hand in hand, Sora half-bouncing in the middle—and Kairi looks like she'd say something about not knowing that boys held hands with other boys, but then Riku rolls his eyes again, and tells her with his look that Sora would probably even hold hands with a giant squid if he wanted to. Or hold tentacles. Whatever.
They share a silent laugh at this—Sora laughs along, even if he doesn't exactly understand. Sora seems to laugh at everything.
And then there were three.
Fin