"Now that's my special good luck charm! Be sure and bring it back to me!"
"Don't worry, I will."
This memory is so much stronger than the others...
Kairi woke with her head pounding.
"Ugh. Stupid dream." she muttered. The redheaded girl rolled over, remembering too late that the mattresses at her boarding school were far too narrow to allow this movement.
"Stupid bed" she breathed into the floor.
A smaller girl pooped up next to Kairi. "Hi Kiari!" she chirped, oblivious to the older girl's bad mood. "Why don't we go down to the beach today?" The girl looked half-hopeful, as if afraid she was going to be shot down.
Kairi sighed. "Why not? You can see the island from there, I guess. It might help me remember that boy... Okay, Selphie. When can we go?"
Selphie looked surprised. "Don't you know what time it is? It's almost noon!"
"WHAT!? WHYDIDN'TANYONEWAKEMEUPWHATAREYOUCRAZYDOYOUWANTTOFAILOUTOFYOURSCIENCECLASSYOUKNOWYOU
HAVEAHUGETESTTODAY..." Kairi shrieked. Selphie took a step back, alarmed. "Calm down!"
Kairi looked at her with an expression of someone who knows they are right, but want the person who is wrong to say it. "Well?"
"Classes got canceled today!" the little girl trilled. "What? Why?" Selphie shrugged. "Who knows? But they did! What's weird is that there's absolutely no one at the beach! It would be like it was ours!"
Kairi thought for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah! Let's just go! I'll get dressed and you get what we'll need."
"ALREADY DONE!" Selphie nearly shrieked in happiness.
Kairi sighed. That was just like Selphie, to have everything packed and ready before she knew if Kairi would even go with her. She wondered how many weekends Selphie had packed, only to be rejected. She sighed again and pulled out her pink outfit from its space in the closet. She changed quickly, glancing at herself in the mirror when she was done. She knew she was prettier than the average girl, especially since living the past few years of her life on a 'heathen' island. But still, this outfit was a big improvement from the tattered tee shirt and skirt that she'd worn on Destiny Islands.
She slipped on an ivory slip and dressed in her pink sheath dress. After digging in her closet for a moment, she tugged on a pair of pink shoes. Somewhat impractical when making an outing to the beach, but nonetheless.
Kairi quickly brushed her hair. It pretty much stayed good, no matter what she did. Even after a night of those restless dreams. The bright red tint caught in the sun streaming through the now-open window, making it shine. Kairi loved her hair. It was the shade of red that everyone envies, from the prettiest blond to the most daring black, to the cutest brunette.
Selphie knocked on the door. "Kairi? You almost ready?" she shouted through the door, the knock followed by a heavy thunk, so Kairi knew that she was carrying the stuff. "Yeah, let me help you with the beach stuff!" she yelled back.
As the two girls made their way down to the waterline, Kairi stopped, drawing a picture with the toe of her boot in the sand. It formed an image of the paupui fruit. Kairi knew she had almost shared one with someone; perhaps the boy she couldn't remember? She mused on this as she doodled in the sand absentmindedly, but she came up with no solution.
She looked up quickly and realized that Selphie had left the stuff about halfway to the water and was nowhere to be seen.
"Selphie?" Kairi called. No answer. Ah, just as well. she thought, heaving a mental sigh. I won't be any kind of company anyway. She thought about that boy some more, but came up with nothing.
"Maybe, waiting isn't good enough." she murmured.
"My thoughts exactly! If you have a dream, don't wait. Act. One of life's little rules. Got it memorized?" came a voice from nowhere. Kairi turned quickly, looking for whoever had spoken to her, whoever had been close enough to hear her.
A man appeared out of a dark portal. She knew this sort of thing happened sometimes, little pockets of dark, exploding open, creating a passageway between worlds. The oddest thing about him was his hair, bright red and spiking up about a foot off of his head. The next was his black cloak. He must have been burning up! Another thing was the twin black scars under his eyes. But his eyes... They were a deep green, but almost with a tint of brighter green, or seafoam green, perhaps. They were captivating. And he was staring at her. "Who are you?" she whispered.
"Axel. I happen to be an aqquaintence of Sora's. Why don't we go see him?" He stretched out his extremely thin arm to her, as if wanting her to take his hand.
"Sora?" Kairi whispered to herself. So many things fell into place! The memories were back, his name, his face, what he'd done, the promises they'd made to each other! It was all back!
Suddenly, a big orange-yellow dog, Pluto, came tearing across the sand, stopping at Kairi's feet, barking. As King Mickey's dog, Kairi had heard about his more than once, but never seen him. But she knew she could trust him!
Four creatures sprang up with his arrival. They looked like anorexically thin, stilt-limbed people, but with white, almost jumpsuits. What would be the hood was unzipped, showing a round head with sharp teeth. It resembled something from her memory, a Heartless. But this was different. Kairi couldn't place the difference, but it was more than just color. This creature was more fluid in its movements.
Another dark portal opened up behind Kairi, and Pluto dashed towards it with no hesitation.
"We've got something in common, Kairi. You and I both miss someone we care about. Hey, I feel like we're friends already." the man, Axel, said quietly.
Kairi turned toward the portal, took a little breath, and ran forward, yelling over her shoulder, "You're not acting very friendly!" She ran straight into the darkness.
How can you see into my eyes, like open doors?
She and Pluto ended up in a blank world. Blank wasn't really the right word. It was blue, with a number of cross shapes floating around. "Hey, what is this place?" she whispered to herself. Suddenly, a bright doorway shone in front of them. Pluto dashed forward into it, and Kairi stepped forward, hesitating this time before plunging herself in.
She turned and saw a person in an identical black cloak to the one Axel had been wearing. "Huh?!" she said loudly, just before the light closed in and surrounded her.
Leading you down into my core, where I become so numb.