Takes place between the Life Goes On stories Team Spirit and Bachelor/Bachelorette
"Y'know," Kairi says, quickly raising her bronze blade to deflect Sora's determined swipe at her, "it's usually customary to end a date night with a kiss goodnight. Not a sparring duel."
The pair stand in the middle of the play island's beach, the only souls around for miles. For whatever reason, the kids of Destiny Islands just don't seem to flock to this place like they once did. That, plus the fact that night fell about half-an-hour ago, leaving only the moon and stars behind for illumination, guarantees the pair's privacy. Which is good, since they're currently attacking each other with magical blades.
"Who said this is the end of the date?" her boyfriend suggests teasingly, breaking their blade-lock and taking a step back. "How do you know I'm not just getting warmed up?"
The words, combined with his playful yet utterly confident tone, give Kairi a momentary pause. In the back of her head she can hear Azlyn, screaming "Head in the game, Princess" at her. But the lively female knight isn't here right now, carefully scrutinizing every move that the redhead makes. She's back in her home, getting up to who knew what kind of trouble.
Besides, considering what kind of thoughts and feelings are giving Kairi pause in the first place, Azlyn really has no room to judge.
"You okay?" Sora asks, seemingly from out of the blue. Kairi starts herself back into focus, moving her eyes up and down the boy's body with her mouth slightly open.
"Uh…" That's all she gets out, and even though she's known Sora her entire life, and has subsequently seen the brown-haired boy do and say all manner of embarrassing things, not to mention dome some pretty humiliating stuff herself, she can't keep her cheeks turning red.
"We can stop if you want," Sora begins, going from quipping from sputtering in the space of a heartbeat. He lowers his blade, looking at Kairi with wide eyes. "I mean, I thought you'd appreciate, like, the chance to hone your skills, or whatever. But if you don't, we can totally stop. Or maybe you want to go home, you might be tired after…"
"Please stop talking," she interrupts, holding up a hand and hoping to the heavens above that that didn't sound too bitchy. After a quick wince, she presses on. "Wow, that came out… I don't mind. Y'know, the sudden sparring. Not a conventional date activity but…"
Ugh. It's like awkwardness is some tangible, physical disease leaping from one half of the couple to the other. Kairi's willing to bet doctors have no cure.
"I actually think we should stop," Sora says, finally managing to speak in a steady, deliberate voice. Light flashes in his hand, dismissing Kingdom Key to wherever it goes when not being used. "No offense, but you don't really seem to be in the right, uh, headspace for it right now."
Kairi can't help but release a sigh of relief. With another flash, more demure than that of her boyfriend's Keyblade, her weapon is gone too. "Good call, I think." The girl laughs, unable to contain the loud burst of noise. "You've got a pretty incredible ability to read my mood, do you know that?"
The Keybearer just shrugs. "I wouldn't be a very good boyfriend, or even lifelong regular friend, if I couldn't, right?" he says, walking over to her.
Uh oh, Kairi can't help but suddenly think. It's nice that he's so attentive, but the possibility that he might have picked up on what the thoughts that just distracted her were specifically…
It isn't something they've talked about. The physical aspects of a romantic relationship, that is. From the beginning there's just been a sort of silent consensus that they aren't quite ready to start moving at Azlary speed in that arena. They've kissed of course, occasionally even moving into a horizontal position to do so, but anything beyond that has been a weirdly taboo subject.
But lack of verbal expression hasn't stopped either of them from thinking about it. They're teenagers, for goodness sake.
"You're great," Kairi says, letting Sora put his hands on her hips. Almost unconsciously, she grips his shoulders. Pressed close, they stare up into each other's eyes. "In both of those categories. No complaints."
"Good," he replies, leaning down to kiss her. It lasts for a few seconds, both of them hype-aware of every moment. When it finally ends, it's right back to eyes-gazing. "Is that enough for you, right now?"
Kairi blinks a few times in rapid succession, realizing somewhere in the back of her mind that holy shit, this conversation is really happening. What should she say? Probably just what she feels, but… After a moment, the Princess of Heart internally chastises herself. This is Sora, for crying out loud. They're in a relationship, the kind of thing built largely on communication. Saying what she feels, plain and exact, is definitely the best course of action.
"I'm really not sure," she finally replies, hoping that doesn't sound as lame to him as it did to her. Frightened that it maybe in fact did, she extracts herself from his grip. From there, it's almost reflex to turn away. She feels cold now that he isn't holding her, so she does for herself.
"Oh," Sora says, and she can hear him very gently kick up some sand. A common Sora-reaction to a situation out of his comfort zone. "Well, I guess I should tell you that I'm fine with it. Y'know, the line we've got. The crossing of it is all up to you."
She turns back to him, her eyebrow lifting almost all on its own. "This is a team decision, Sora. It's not like you paid four goats for me or anything."
The boy's hands go up defensively. "I know, I know. I'm just telling you that I, personally, speaking as one member of the team, am ready to go across the line. I just need the go ahead. From the other team member. That's you, in case you didn't… Well, I guess that's pretty obvious." He laughs, tugging at his hair and pulling a face that has Kairi giggling. "Wow, I guess there's something to Azlyn and Telary's way of getting this kinda thing out of the way immediately."
Kairi doesn't let him realize what he might have just implied. She's had enough awkwardness for tonight, thanks very much. "Well," she says after a minute, trying not to laugh again at how Sora's head snaps up to look at her, almost violently, "speaking as the other team member…" She hesitates, instinctively knowing that this is a moment that will echo in her life for years to come. "I am so ready."
The couple falls silent for a long, long time. The world around them goes on making noise, waves lapping against the shore and birds getting out their last rambunctious squawks before settling down to sleep. So at least there's some kind of buffer.
"That is… very good to hear." Sora looks pretty dumbfounded, hands twitching like he has no idea what they should be doing right now. After a moment he winces, finally seeming to settle on rubbing at his neck. "So, should we just do it right here, or…?"
"Sora!" Kairi yelps, her entire body threatening to collapse as the utter ridiculousness of that notion resonates. From there, the laughter is uncontrollable. Letting go, the Princess of Heart falls on her back. Sand kicks up all around, some of it threatening to get into her mouth. Kairi doesn't care, too caught up in her near-hysteria.
Her boyfriend catches the mirth, a much better infection than the earlier awkwardness. He manages to make it a few steps closer to her, only letting himself fall once he's by Kairi's side. They lay in the sand for the next minute or so, laughing to their hearts' content.
Finally they manage to peter off, bellies aching from the sustained mirth. It takes another full minute almost to catch their breath, a few aftershocks escaping their lips as they stare up at the waxing crescent moon and glittering stars up above. Once everything is quiet again, the couple turn their heads to face each other, hands automatically reaching out to grasp one another.
"I don't think I'm quite that ready," Kairi says, inspiring a few more light chuckles. "Adding in the outdoors, at the beach part seems like an advanced move."
"So, four walls are a requirement then," Sora says, faux-serious. "Fair point, I think. Very much fair. I assume some kind of…" The boy swallows thickly, unable to get the next word out.
"Mattress?" his girlfriend suggests slyly, getting a nod of confirmation. Once that's done, she turns her face back to the sky above. "It should be special, too. Not the where exactly, but… Maybe we need a really good when."
"Hopefully a really close when too," Sora chimes in, bringing Kairi's gaze back to him. He flashes a sheepish grin. "Not that I'm pushing. Because that wouldn't be cool, and I am cool. Very cool. Look the word 'cool' up in a dictionary and…" He finally catches a glimpse of the expression on her face. "You get the idea."
She sits up, maneuvering her left leg so she can pull a knee to her chest. She looks down at him, expression mildly guarded.
"I have a suggestion, maybe," the redhead says, sounding very cautious. He raises an inquisitive eyebrow to prompt her, and she goes for it. "What about at the wedding?"
Now Sora sits up, leaning on his arms with his legs still out in front of him. He's looking right into her eyes, and from the way they occasionally twitch away, she knows the gears are turning in his head.
"I know it's still a few weeks from now," she continues, trying hard to keep herself steady. "And it's sort of an awkward pair of events to link together in our memories like that, but still." She shrugs. "Seems right."
Sora gets up properly now, getting on his knees. The couple's eyes never leave each other, until he leans in, hands on her cheeks, and they kiss again. Shivers race up both their spines, but they manage to push past that fact.
"I think," Sora says as he pulls away, leaving just enough room to move his lips, "that is a great idea." Then they kiss again, letting that play out for a few minutes without feeling the need for anything else. Or at least not admitting to feeling the need.
Finally, more or less satisfied, they pull away for good.
"This was a good date, I think," Kairi says, breaking the tender silence and standing up. Once steady, she reaches down to help Sora to his feet. "You know how I love setting a plan."
"And you know how much I love you," Sora says, smiling brightly.
"Without a doubt." She gives his cheek a peck, then pulls back to look at his eyes again. They've always fascinated her, so blue and bright. "I love you too."
They begin making their way to the dock and the single boat waiting there, holding hands. As Sora leaps into the boat, steadying himself before holding his hands up to help Kairi in, the girl can't help but think of their moment alone on this dock years ago, just before their lives really started.
"I just can't wait," she'd said, looking out at the sinking sun. "Until we set sail. It's going to be perfect."
Just before she hops into the boat with her boyfriend, Kairi silently gives her younger self a solemn, "Ya got that right."
Kind of a funny story about this one. I was thinking the other day, and subsequently talking to a friend, about writing for an ensemble. We talked about a lot of stuff, and one interesting thought we discussed was this: Every relationship pair within the larger ensemble should have a unique, interesting dynamic if you want them to work. Think of shows like Friends, where you could make a storyline with any combination of characters and have it work. Anyway, I started thinking in relation to this story, and realized that I wanted to test the theory on my own Keys to the Kingdom ensemble.
Interestingly enough, a review I recently got on Life Goes On asked about me doing a slice of life story. This is that kind of story. Well, stories really. 10 very short vignettes, each highlighting the relationship between a pairing of the five main characters in the Keys to the Kingdom ensemble (Sora, Azlyn, Telary, Riku, and Kairi). They'll be scattered around the timeline, and I'll make sure to indicate where exactly they're all placed.
So, that's the premise. I hope you'll find this enjoyable, and that I can make every vignette unique and interesting.