A/N. Yet another idea I had whilst in bed trying to sleep. What is wrong with me? I always do that: I start writing a story in my head when I don't have a computer in front of me. Luckily, this time around it was in the morning when I couldn't sleep, so I just decided to wake up.
Cool thing: right now, I'm writing this author's note on Word with a Kingdom Hearts font I found and downloaded last night. Heehee. :D
They were supposed to love each other.
They have known one another since they were small, and as they grew up, there were sparks. There were signs. Riku saw them; he noticed the subtle goings on between them and knew not to interfere. They were meant for each other.
Weren't they?
But something happened. Something changed. Something made it so the two decided not to engage in one another beyond friendship and adoring, brotherly/sisterly interaction.
"Don't get me wrong," the girl of the two murmured in a voice so hushed it was on the brink of being considered a whisper. "I still love you. I just love her more, and in a different way."
She couldn't help herself. Somehow along the way, she found Naminé and fell in love with her, everything about her. Her artistic, mousy, beautiful charm and grace and simplicity and complexity all rolled into one. She was everything Kairi wasn't, and yet many tings that she was and could someday be. Kairi loved her.
The boy of the two didn't say a word for a while. He merely gave a sideways glance at his close friend, his lips parted and his eyes welling with understanding tears, and nodded his head once. He blinked his tears away and forced an odd smile.
Smiling. Always smiling. He was truly too kind.
"What we're supposed to do and what we actually end up doing are two completely separate things," the girl told him, and he again nodded his head. "And even though I'm supposed to be in love with you, I actually ended up loving my Nobody."
Finally, finally, the boy spoke. He adjusted his position on the dock they were perched on and cleared his throat. "I know. And I'm fine with it; because I also fell for my Nobody."
The girl didn't appear surprised. She smiled a true smile and grasped his hand. "I had a feeling that you did. That's why I knew that I could tell you."
He had no choice, it seemed. Somehow along the way, he discovered Roxas and fell head over heels for him, every aspect of him. His occasionally brooding demeanor, his tense presence, his fluid fighting and conflicting yet resolved mind, curious and cautious all at the same time. He was everything Sora wasn't, and it intrigued him, because he could also see the parts of his Nobody that were the same in both of them. Sora loved him.
"What should we do now? We'll still be together like we promised, so that they can be together, but how do they feel? I've been too afraid to ask him myself," Sora confessed. He ran a hand nervously through his chocolate locks, his nails raking his scalp.
Kairi folded her hands in her lap and stared at them as they twisted up. "I'm not sure. I never asked her, either. I'm timid when it comes to these things. What if she only loved Roxas, and not me?"
"Can they love at all?" Sora retorted, his voice hollow and his eyes wide. "I've been told time and time again that Nobodies don't have hearts, and cannot feel real emotions. But aren't Roxas and Naminé different? Aren't they special? Can't they love, even if no other Nobodies can?"
The cherry-haired girl bit her bottom lip and thought for a moment. She shook her head and licked her lips to smooth away the pain of biting them too hard. "I don't know. But I hope so. I was Naminé to return my feelings; I think I'd be devastated if she didn't."
"Me too," Sora returned softly. "Roxas might be less ready to return them than Naminé. He's stubborn, like me, but even more so." And a small smile curled the corners of his mouth. "Half the time he won't talk to me because he's too stubborn to."
"Or maybe he's just shy, like Naminé can sometimes be," Kairi said to comfort him. She could tell that it bothered him when Roxas refused (or possibly could not?) to speak. "I know that, on occasion, Naminé won't talk to me, either. But I don't feel anything intentionally mean behind it; I think she just isn't sure what to say."
"Most likely," Sora agreed. He looked at her then, and Kairi was able to see all of the emotions flooding through him in that moment, each flickering across his face like lightning bugs in front of her window at night. "Thanks for talking to me about this, Kairi. I'm glad that we're so close that we can open up to each other like this and not be offended or closed-minded about it."
She nodded. "Mmhmm. I'm glad, too."
"But we can't tell Riku. He doesn't have a Nobody, so I don't think he would understand as much," Sora whispered, a sneaky, playful smile lifting one end of his mouth.
Kairi giggled. "Yeah. Riku wouldn't get it. So let's keep it a secret between us. Pinky-promise?" And she raised her right hand, her pinky finger extended in offering.
Sora winked. "I pinky-promise." And he joined in the childish promise-keeping game by linking his right pinky with hers and shaking them up and down like two strangers meeting for the first time.
And perhaps they were strangers: they knew one another perfectly well before their Nobodies came along, but since then, they have been altered in some way, shape, or form. Their love for each other had shifted as well, and it only made them wonder when, why, and how? When did they decide to love their other selves over each other? Why did they all in love with their Nobodies? And how did this start in the first place?
They didn't know the answers. And frankly, they couldn't care less. Only the facts mattered to them. And the facts of the matter were simply these:
Sora loved Roxas. Kairi loved Naminé. And they were going to do everything it took to have those feelings returned (if they weren't already?) and find a way to be with their Nobodies forever, even if it meant waiting for another lifetime to exist all at the same manner at the same time.