Kairi jogged along after her best friends. Letting herself lag behind, she took a moment to enjoy the scene:
The sun was setting, and the orange light reflected off the ocean water showering everything with an amazing warm tint. Walking silently to herself, she glanced back up to see her friends laughing together. The sight was even more beautiful than the sunset to her. She smiled and looked back to the water. Though the moment was wonderful, she couldn't help but feel something was missing. Wondering why, her brow furrowed. Lost deep in thought she hadn't noticed the others were calling her. Startled, she dumbly jerked her head up.
"What?" Seeing the others laugh at this, she smiled with them and ran to catch up. Her best friend of the past seven years came up to her and slightly breathless from laughing, spoke.
"What's up Kairi? How come you're not walking with the rest of us?" Sora's bright and sincere smile made her feel better, even though she was still unsure of why she had been slightly sad...
Shrugging, she said "I dunno. I just felt like it I guess." smiling sheepishly. She didn't want her friends to know she had felt down. Forgetting herself, she quickly re-joined them in a large scale game of soccer. Kicking a coconut around soon hurt her bare feet though, and she had to quit. Feeling light-headed from all the fun, she went and sat alone on the hot sand.
Again watching the others from the outside, she took the moment to grab her camera from her bag and snap a picture of them playing. Fanning the photo out, it developed to show Selphie, Sora, Hayner, and Pence teamed up against Cloud, Riku and Olette. Riku still bringing the advantage to the smaller team. Sora seemed to be slightly miffed as Riku was clearly stealing the ball from him, but when Kairi looked back up to the real thing, he was as happy as ever.
That boy rebounds quicker than anything... She smiled once again, and called to the others.
"You guys! Its getting dark, we should probably head back." The gang let out a loud groan and grudgingly gathered their things. Riku didn't miss the chance to smack Sora in the butt with his shirt though. Shocked and mortified, Sora was beginning to retaliate, but seeing Kairi laugh so loudly, he simply laughed along with her.
"Bye guys! Ill see you later!" She called to the group of waving teenagers. Again wanting to seize the moment, she quickly took another photo and pleased with the frozen smiles, she waved a second time and veered off the main street onto her own. Seeing nothing but white sand spilled on black pavement, she looked up to the stars. They twinkled out of reach and Kairi wished she had a better camera so she could get them clearly...
She whistled to herself as she continued the journey home. Not quite ready to end the day, she cut through the vacant houses' yard and looked for the broken section of fence. Pushing the worn wood out of the way, she crawled through the foliage until dirt again was replaced by sand. Following the beaten path she had walked so many times, she ventured up to her spot. It was only a worn sheet hung from a tree and a few photos tacked to their branches, but she enjoyed it more than anything. Humming as she placed her latest photos next to the others, she proceeded to lay underneath her favorite tree. Just before she fell asleep, drops of water fell onto her eyes. Grabbing her things, she hurriedly left her hideout and jogged home in the sprinkling rain.
Her grandmother already asleep, Kairi went upstairs and jumped in the shower. Soon after, she slumped into bed and buried her head beneath her pillows. She was feeling down, just like earlier, and still didn't know why. Nothing was wrong with her life, she thought. Still thinking over everything, Kairi eventually drifted into a comfortable sleep.
Woken not by the lazy morning light like she usually was, Kairi stretched her long body and strained to hear what had woken her. The sound of some big vehicle reversing, and another car door slamming. She sat up, and looked out the window. Nothing to the left of their house... Jumping out of bed, she ran down the stairs into the kitchen to see her Grandmother sitting at the small window table sipping at coffee and reading a book. She looked up and smiled at the sight of her only granddaughter. And family for that matter. Hair disheveled to one side, bags under her eyes, and shirt twisted, Kairi looked hilarious to the old woman. "Kairi dear, good morning." Kairi looked at her confusedly and could see the amusement in the old woman's eyes. Mumbling something about cars, the gray haired woman raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you should get back to sleep? You're not making any sense anyway..." she said softly. Kairi stopped suddenly, and shook her head.
"That's why I'm awake, I heard loud noises outside and I couldn't sleep. What's going on?" she replied.
"Ah, that would be our new neighbors I assume. Somebody decided to buy that old house down the road, they must be moving in. I've only met the young girl, she seemed nice enough. You should go say hi, you'd do good to welcome her to the islands. I'm sure she doesn't know anyone her own age." Kairi nodded absentmindedly, but stopped as she realized what her grandmother had said.
"Wait, the yellow house? The one that's been empty for years?" she said looking alarmed. Her grandmother only nodded. Kairi rushed back up to her room, only to grab a pair of sandals and to run a brush through her hair. She ran out of the kitchen door, and left her grandmother looking more amused than ever. What a strange granddaughter I've got...
Kairi tore down the road, cutting through two yards and hopping fences as she did so. She had to see it for herself. If what her grandmother had said was true, then the house that had the trail to her hideaway would no longer be empty.
And just like that, she rounded the corner too fast and almost tripped over herself as she arrived at the house. She knew this house well. When she wasn't at the island with her friends, she was here. Putting up photos in her hideaway, and sometimes even explored the house itself. Its once familiar yellow paneling now looked alien and Kairi felt like she had been cheated out of something. Pouting, she stayed behind the fence of the house next to it. Watching as the movers carried boxes into the home. She wanted to meet this mystery girl that would be taking part of her. So she climbed on top of the fence and hopped over into the yard. Kicking a rock, she made her way to the front lawn and looked for anyone except the movers. Just as she decided they must be out despite the car in the driveway, she turned to make her way home.
Kairi turned, expecting to see the same sand on the street, but was instead met by the ocean. But this wasn't their ocean was it? Theirs was a clearer, paler blue. This ocean was rich and vibrant, the color radiating off of it...But then, the ocean disappeared. Kairi snapped out of her illusion, to realize that she was face to face with a girl...who, had her eyes closed? She must be thinking. Kairi concluded. Just then, the girl's eyes opened once more and Kairi found herself thinking she'd like nothing more than to keep looking at them. They were a fantastic cerulean blue. The girl cleared her throat and Kairi shook herself out of it. She had been so memorized she hadn't paid attention. The girl gave a sheepish smile and Kairi found herself stunned.
This girl was beautiful. Not just nice or pretty, downright unreal. She was a little shorter than Kairi, maybe an inch or two. She also had pale blonde hair a little longer than hers. Paler skin than she had ever seen, and the way she stood showed that she was nervous. She hadn't been looking Kairi in the eye, but as she gave the softest of "hello"s, she looked up at her. The two locked eyes for just a second or two, but for what felt like hours. Kairi shook her head, not wanting to scare her, and smiled brightly.
"Hi, you must be the one my grandma told me about. You're the one moving in here right?" she said a little breathlessly. The blonde seemed to brighten after that, and Kairi was glad.
"Yeah...I'm Namine." She said softly, but also confidently.
Kairi tilted her head to the right, giving a goofy smile. She didn't know why she was so pleased by her name.
"Namine. Right, I'm Kairi. I live down the street," she pointed, "two houses down." she replied smiling. Namine looked in the direction she had pointed, leaning a little but, and Kairi found her eyes moving with her. Then the two stood there for a second before Namine looked her up and down. Kairi felt awkward from this and stood a little straighter than normal, as if proving herself. A blush just beginning to creep onto her cheeks, she froze when Namine frowned at her.
"Why are you in your pajamas?" she said, a little too teasingly. Kairi fancied she saw a spark in her eyes when she said it, but only laughed nervously.
"Uhm, well your moving trucks woke me up this morning...and, I just wanted to see what all the noise was about."
"Oh sorry about that...they're almost done. Does that mean you haven't had breakfast?" And as if clarifying this, Kairi's stomach grumbled loudly and her face flushed.
"Yeah, I guess not...sorry..." she said awkwardly. Namine gave her a really nice look, that made Kairi forget about the fact that she had just been embarrassed.
"Well you want to come inside? I was about to make something anyway before you came. I know I don't really know you, but I figured since I don't actually know anyone..." Kairi smiled.
"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks!" The two girls made their way into the yellow house, and Kairi sat at the kitchen table, which was very similar to hers. She watched as Namine popped in some toast and started frying up some eggs, utterly fascinated.
Namine caught Kairi staring at her as she cooked her breakfast. She looked away quickly, and blushed deeply. She's totally zoned out...I think she must do that a lot... giggling to herself, she stole another glance at the girl. Kairi had a deep red hair that went nicely with her slightly tanned skin. She had a goofy smile on her face and was leaning on her elbow. Her hair slightly messed, and her baby blue pajamas a little wrinkled, Namine could only think "Adorable..."
"Huh?" Kairi asked, coming out of her happy daze. Did I say that out loud? She must have heard me too, crap.
"Uh, I was just asking how long you've been here. Yeah..." Kairi tapped her chin and then counted her fingers.
"Almost...eight years now. I moved here with my grandma when I was eight so....yeah..."
"So you're sixteen too?" Namine smiled widely, and Kairi could only nod stupidly. Hearing another light giggle, Kairi's already dazed smile widened. Namine brought over plates toppled with eggs and toast, and sat across from the red-head. Kairi watched as Namine straightened her seat, folded her napkin in her lap, and delicately speared some food with her fork. About to take a bite, she caught Kairi staring at her for the second time. The girl looked totally fascinated! What's with her? Have I got something on me? Namine laid down her fork, blushing, and cleared her throat. "Kairi..." Kairi's eyes lit up at this.
"Yes Namine?" she said a bit too eagerly. Kairi didn't know why this girl held her attention so closely, but she almost didn't care. Namine blinked at her, unsure of what to say. Something changed in her expression, a slight hint of a blush creeping onto her cheeks.
"Nothing...you should probably eat before those get cold." She gestured to Kairi's plate. Kairi smiled softly and just nodded. The two ate in silence before a knock was heard on the front door. Namine left to go answer it, and Kairi cleaned up the plates.