Title: I'll Be Waiting
Author: SimplyCharmed94
Rating: K
Summary: People come, people go. Personalities may or may not change. Kairi accepts that nothing can remain the same forever, but why does it still feel like something is missing?
*
The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was painted a reddish-orange color. Overall, the scene was quite beautiful, but Kairi was too deep in thought to consider her surroundings. Her auburn hair blew softly in the breeze, and her sky-blue eyes were focused on the island in the distance. The Destiny Islands, she thought to herself. I haven't been there in a while. Over the past couple of months, she had noticed that her friends had changed drastically. Everybody had refused her attempts to go back to the island, no matter how much she begged. Tidus and Wakka were always busy dueling the other boys, and Selphie spent her time with the other island girls. Things just aren't the same anymore, she thought dully, grabbing a stick and tracing a pattern in the sand.
"Everything used to be so great," she muttered, her voice cracking slightly. Kairi had always been a strong girl who tried not to show weakness, but at the moment, she had no restraint. Tears now welled up in her eyes and she didn't make an effort to contain them. Her chest heaving with sobs, she dropped into the sand and buried her face in her hands. "I want to remember you!" she shouted. "I want to know why you left me, and why you're nothing but a shadow in my mind!" The waves softly skimmed over the sand, and there was a still silence. Kairi elevated her head and her bloodshot eyes wandered towards the island. "I know you're out there somewhere," she whispered.
*
"Kairi, wait up!" Kairi's swift pace slowed to a halt as she heard a voice calling her. She spun around and spotted a petite, brunette girl running towards her. Selphie's talking to me again? That's a nice surprise… Within a few seconds, Selphie caught up with her.
"Do you feel like going out to the island today?" Selphie asked, her eyes gleaming and a smile taking over her face. "Tidus and Wakka are all wrapped up in their ballgame and they won't go with me." Kairi sighed and followed Selphie's gaze until she set her eyes upon their childhood island. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest as she thought of their memories there… and the boy.
"Not today, sorry," she muttered, turning her back to Selphie. She nonchalantly wiped her eyes, willing herself not to break. Selphie grabbed her arm and revolved Kairi so that she was facing her. Selphie's eyes were large and concerned, and she pouted as she saw Kairi's eyes.
"Something's wrong," said Selphie as she put her hand on Kairi's shoulder. Kairi stiffened at the young girl's contact, but did nothing to remove her hand. She hadn't been physically touched by any of her friends since… since I was on the island. "I know you, Kairi, and I know when you're upset. What happened?"
Kairi scrutinized the ground and shuffled her feet. Might as well try… "Do you remember those boys who used to hang out with us?"
"Riku?" asked Selphie. Kairi's heart rate accelerated, but that wasn't the name she was searching for. For some reason, it felt like something was missing. For the past few months, Kairi had been feeling incomplete; as if a piece of her had been cruelly ripped to shreds. Maybe I'm not going crazy… Kairi thought to herself. Maybe he IS real!
"And the other boy?" Kairi pressed, eager for closure over this long ordeal.
Selphie suddenly stiffened and gazed at Kairi through wide eyes. She released Kairi and took a cautious step back, gawking at the red-headed girl as if she had sprouted another head. "What other boy?"
*
Seagulls soared above the water as the sun beat down. It was a beautiful day, but hardly anyone was around. Nobody comes around her anymore, Kairi thought to herself as she sauntered down to the beach. They say they're "too old" to be hanging around the beach. She pushed her bangs out of her eyes and leisurely strolled down to the water. She plopped herself down on her knees and dropped her bag into the sand. She sighed, then skimmed the surface of the water with her finger. It's really beautiful out here, she thought.
Kairi gazed into the water and locked eyes with her reflection. The red-haired, blue-eyed girl staring back at her was no longer the real Kairi. She was a broken person, a shadow of her former self. She could see pain and confusion in her crystal eyes, and a permanent frown had glued itself to her face. She was looking at a unfortunate, lost soul who was simply trying to find herself. Tearing her eyes away from her watery mirror, Kairi reached into her bag and extracted a sealed bottle with a rolled-up letter within. She grazed the smooth surface of the bottle with her thumb and furrowed her eyebrows in consideration. She slowly stood up, drawing her arm back as far as she could. With a quick movement, she tossed the bottle as far into the ocean as her strength would allow. Once she heard the bottle crash into the waves, she clasped her hands together and a tear rolled down her cheek.
"I hope you'll find it," she whispered, then lowered her voice by an octave, "but I don't even know if you're real." Another tear made its way down her cheek as she watched the waves carry the bottle out to sea. "If you are," she took a deep breath to steady herself, "I'll be waiting."
Thinking of you wherever you are.
We pray for our sorrows to end,
And hope that our hearts will blend.
Now I will step forward to realize this wish.
And who knows:
Starting a new journey may not be so hard,
Or maybe it has already begun.
There are many worlds,
But they share the same sky -
One sky,
One destiny.
A/N: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, sadly :( Oh, and the poem at the end isn't mine; it's from KH2.