Title: Fairytale
Rating: PG
Author: SKF
Pairings: RikuSoraKairi OT3
Disclaimer: Not mine, sadly.
AN: . Part of the Music Box-verse; see profile for details
"I get to be the princess this time!" Selphie proclaimed loudly, glaring at the shorter red-haired girl as if daring her to argue. She did, much to the brunette's surprise.
"I want to be the princess this time, you were the princess last time- and I'm better at it!" Kairi crossed her arms. If Selphie wanted to be stubborn, then she would be, too. "So. Who's gonna be the knight?"
From where the other four boys were lounging in the sand, watching the two girls argue, there was a frantic waving of a tanned hand accompanied by an exclamation of, "I will!" as Sora bounced to his feet in a spray of sand, "Oh…no, wait! I want to be the prince!"
"Nice try, kidd-o," Tidus interrupted lazily, rising to his feet with a stretch and a yawn. "See, I'm gonna be the prince, 'cause Sora, you have girl muscles and you wouldn't be any good anyway."
That wasn't true! Sora flushed with a mix of anger and embarrassment, putting his hands behind his back after self-consciously yanking his sleeves down to hide his 'girly muscles.' And "kiddo"? Tidus was only a month older than Sora himself, so who was he calling kiddo? To the brunette's surprise, both Kairi and Riku leapt to his defense with, "You're the one that's girly looking, Ty-ty!" and "Sora is gonna make a better prince 'cause he's nicer!"
Wakka was the one to diffuse the situation and it was agreed that Kairi would be the princess this time, Sora would be the prince, Tidus would be the knight, Riku would be the evil knight allied with Selphie, the dragon ("who kept trying to kill the stupid, snotty princess!" "Shut up, stupid!"). Wakka was content to watch and practice his blitzball skills as long as they didn't get too out of hand; that was his nature, when everyone else was getting into scuffles and arguments, he was always the unruffled one who calmed everyone down.
--
"Oh, what am I going to do? The evil, ugly, stupid spider thing won't let me go!" Kairi brought a hand to her forehead dramatically like the princesses in the stories her father read her, would do. Selphie scowled at the obvious insult, kicking sand at the other girl and looking up at the sky innocently when the redhead whirled around with a glare of her own. "Where is my prince?" There was a kick of sand in rebuttal toward where Selphie was standing. The brunette girl let out an indignant noise, hands fisting tightly as she prepared to stalk over to where her not-friend was standing.
This couldn't go any further or they would start fighting for real, Sora decided, biting his lip as he rolled out from a bush where he had been hiding in, tripping over his wooden play-sword but recovering quickly with a sheepish, bright smile, "Don't fear, Princess Kairi! I'll save you!" he called with a wave, walking forward.
"No, you won't!" Came a falsely deep voice as Riku stepped out from behind one of the wooden fences (the castle). There was a brief moment of confusion as the older boy mouthed the words, 'what are you?' to the brunette girl, "Selphie, the uh-"
"Stupid, evil and-" Kairi began helpfully only to be interrupted by a coconut flying at her head. "Hey!"
"Dra-gon! I'm a dragon!" Selphie shot back, glaring at Riku for not remembering. He was her knight after all, the least he could do was remember what she was!
"Selphie the dragon!" Riku finished hurriedly with an apologetic shrug to Kairi who only pouted. "We'll defeat you!" This was directed at Sora, who grinned and then masked it when he realized that enemies didn't smile at each other like they were friends.
Tidus leapt down from a tree brandishing his sword with a wide grin. "Think again!" he said dramatically, stepping in front of Sora in a pseudo-protective way, smirking slightly.
--
Kairi was the princess, though they hadn't known it at the time and even if they had it wouldn't have changed anything. Riku couldn't change the past and Sora couldn't either though they tried multiple times. What was done was done and all they could do was make the best of it even with all that had happened.
--
"Say, Kairi, you know what we should do?" Selphie asked, licking her ice-cream cone thoughtfully, dipping her toes in the water to watch the minnows swim frantically around. "We should play that game we always played when we were kids."
"Vague, much?" Tidus snickered from where he was splayed out on the deck behind her, his own cone gone long before everyone else's. Selphie turned around to glare at the blonde who already had his eyes closed as he lounged in the sun. "Which one, Selph, we had like, eighty."
Sensing a potential argument- they were frequent between the two teens, Sora stepped in quickly. "Oh, I know what you're talking about, Selphie," he said, taking a bite out of the cone and chewing thoughtfully. "That one we always played where we pretended that we were different characters or heroes, right?"
"Yeah, that one!" The brunette girl sent Sora a wide smile. "Remember when we were little, Kairi and I always fought over who would be the princess, and Riku, Sora and Tidus all wanted to be the prince?" She laughed lightly, recalling the 'old days' as they called them.
Both Sora and Riku turned ever so slightly to regard a vaguely tense Kairi with a mix of discomfort and nervousness, though it was more noticeable in the brunette boy. "Aren't we a little old for games like that?" Riku asked, feeling Kairi lean back just enough so their fingertips brushed. Moments later Sora leaned over so they were shoulder to shoulder offering the comfort that their being together always held.
"No, we're never too old to have fun! I'll be the monster, since they have more fun than a princess," Selphie said jokingly, not noticing how Kairi glanced at the ocean in avoidance. "C'mon, Kairi, guys, don't you think-"
Sick to her stomach and wishing she could make it go away, make herself stop dwelling on the past, the redhead swallowed hard. "No, thanks." Kairi whispered, withdrawing from all of them and standing up in a quick move, feeling rather than seeing Sora and Riku do the same, the younger of the two grasping both of their hands twining their fingers together, squeezing gently. Riku said nothing, choosing to rest a hand on her shoulder and then walk to the shore. "Being a princess isn't all that great."
Tidus and Selphie staring after them as if they had all grown heads, they made their way somewhere where memories weren't so painful and obvious.
--
I'm not sure how much I like this, I love the premise, but I'm not sure about my mad skillz. Any and all spelling errors you find and point out would be great, as well as any part you think didn't really flow well. Thanks for reading!