title: i remember it well
characters: kairi. kairi's parents.
summary: kairi tells no lies, save one
prompt: "there is no love like that of a parent for the child"
notes: written while listening to in loving memory by alter bridge. amazing song, really. not played kh in a loooooong time, so i took some liberties with this one. and a warning: this is a practice drabble.
Kairi tells no lies, save one.
If Selphie or Lulu ask her an opinion on an outfit, she bluntly tells them that the orange overalls are too short or that the black dress shows too much cleavage for someone their age.
Or when Wakka asks her who she will pick when Sora and Riku both ask her to the Fall Banquet. She promptly tells him that Riku has too much of a cocky attitude, and Sora is too group oriented for it to even matter, because if she did pick one, the other boy would tag along regardless. She simply tells that Tidus has asked her first, and in the end run, he is who she is going with.
Of course, she does this nicely so feelings aren't hurt, but she never lies.
Except when asked one thing.
"What were your parents like?" Riku asks one day as the three of them -- now seniors in high school dealing with dating, college decisions, life instead of saving the world and playing hero -- do homework.
A slight frown, a tug in her chest.
She catches herself quickly and shrugs.
"I don't remember."
She lies.
She remembers a loving mother -- warm smiles, gentle voice, loving hugs. She remembers a kind father -- tall, proud, regal, ruling Radiant Garden with peace. She remembers trips to the beach, riding on her father's shoulders because she was too tired to walk. She remembers gentle lullabies as her mother rocked her to sleep.
She remembers her father's change, and she remembers how darkness eerily crept into the castle, changing its habitants with it. She remembers her mother's last desperate attempt to save her, remembers feeling hands on her back gently pushing her through a large keyhole, remembers hearing her mother's screams as the monsters in the dark took over.
She remembers all of this.
But she wishes she didn't.
So she lies.