::INTRODUCTION::
This is a tiny story, involving what would happen if Sora, Riku, and Kairi all went out on the raft as they had planned. It's not very good, and it links to the book "Search for Delicious" by Natalie Babbit, but I've had it all curled up in my files for a while and didn't expect to do anything with it, so consider yourself lucky to be reading this! ^ ^
* * *
"Last check!" Riku called as he came back from where ever he was.
"Okay," Sora closed his eyes and thought. "We've got the rope, the fish, the coconuts, the mushrooms, the seagull egg, are you sure one is enough?"
Kairi scowled. "I still think one is too much."
"We need the protein, and yes, it's enough. The winds are strong, and will be for a couple days. That will take us to where ever we're going." Riku pointed out.
Sora laughed. "Which, the wind or the seagull egg?"
Kairi smiled and leaned over so her mouth was near Sora's ear. "I need to talk to you before we go. I think this is important."
Sora turned to face her. "Okay, sure," he looked back towards Riku. "We'll be right back."
He followed Kairi to the secret place. The walls seemed to whisper, because of the echoing water right outside of the cave. Sora and Kairi walked on through the damp hallway until they entered the enormous room, where they had scribbled on the walls with rocks when they were younger.
As soon as they entered, Sora started to wander around, glancing from drawing to drawing. "I'm sure going to miss this place."
"I'm going to miss our funny pictures of each oth- huh?" Kairi's eyes fell on the picture of Sora and her, when they were about six or seven, and frowned at the newly drawn poupu fruit in between. "What's that doing there?"
Sora shifted away from her so she wouldn't be able to see the red patches on his cheeks. "Well..see..um.."
"You drew that there?" She smiled at the thought. Had Sora wanted to share the poupu fruit with her? "When?"
"Yesterday."
"Why?"
Silence followed.
Kairi placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him around to look at her straight on. Sora expected a sharp giggle to cut into his skin.
"Why, Sora?"
Seeing no way out, Sora answered. "If anything ever happened to the three of us, I wanted to make sure we would never lose each other."
Kairi smiled. "Why did you lose the race? Did you do it on purpose?"
Sora had never found the ground so fascinating. "Yes."
"Because of Riku?"
"If we shared a poupu, I wouldn't want him to know about it."
"Why?"
"Because..oh, I don't know.."
"It would be more romantic?" Asked Kairi, edging closer to Sora.
"Well." Sora leaned away from Kairi, she was getting too close, and way off the subject. If Sora ever did share a poupu with Kairi, if Riku knew, he would tease them, that's all, who said anything about romantic? Kairi was getting closer, and started to aim her mouth toward his, closing her eyes..
Sora stepped out of the way. "Kairi..?"
Her eyes popped open and she blinked. "Hmm, what?"
Sora was still taking in what Kairi had attempted to do. "Wasn't there a reason you brought me here?"
"Oh. Yes." She said, disappointed. She pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to Sora. "It's my necklace of Thassala shells. I want you to have it."
Sora took it and looked at her. "Are you mad?"
"No. Fine. Great. Terrific." She painfully smiled, and Sora knew it was a fake. She started to walk out of the secret place. Sora thought of the journey, which he didn't want to have Kairi mad at him through.
"Wait, Kairi!" He called, and couldn't believe what he had made up his mind to do. She turned, and quickly, before she could question him, leaned forward, touched his lips to hers, thanked her for the necklace, and ran back out of the cave, leaving her bewildered.
Sora was a bit dazed himself, but somehow it felt better knowing he did it to cheer her up, not because he liked her. The effect it might have had on Kairi might have been bigger, because she was going for the first kiss.
When he caught up with Riku, he was leaning against the mast of the raft. "What took you so long? What did she want?"
"She just gave me this necklace." Sora held it out so Riku could see.
Riku rolled his eyes. "She could have given you that in front of me."
"We were just looking at our old drawings."
"And that's it?"
"Yeah, that's it." Sora lied.
"Oh, okay," Riku said and turned around to push a barrel onto the raft. "Your face is bright red."
Did you ever notice how sand is made up of little rocks? Well that's what Sora noticed as he looked down at the ground again..
* * *
Sora and Riku pushed the sand into the water. Riku's side immediately was floating, drifting in the water, but Sora's even though he was pushing as hard as he could, required Riku's assistance.
"You still don't got it," Riku had said. Sora pouted. Kairi laughed.
In fact nothing had wavered between Kairi and Sora. Riku knew, and he took the opportunity to tease them as hard as he could. They didn't mind. They knew he was jealous of Sora.
It was about midday, and Riku had discovered a small leak in the raft, and was tending to it. Sora offered to help, but Riku pointed out if more people stayed at one side of the raft than the other it would capsize. So Sora Stayed with Kairi.
They had all abandoned their shoes, and Kairi was trailing her feet in the water at the back of the raft. Sora joined her.
"Wearing my necklace, I see." Kairi noticed. Sora smiled and took it off to have a better look.
"You really worked hard on it. I couldn't not wear it." He pointed to a shell. "I like this shell. Its color is different from the others, and it's all twisted and misshapen." He laughed. "I wonder why I like it."
"Maybe because it can't help but be different. Kind of like Riku."
They both looked over at Riku, who was strapping down a patch on the other side of the raft.
Kairi's words echoed in his mind. Can't help but be different? Riku? Since when was he different? Sora's memory took him back to when they were very little, Riku and himself. He wasn't different then. In fact, they both were odd, and proud to be strange. Riku had valued that far better than Sora did. When Kairi came into the picture, had she brought Sora down to earth, permanently damaging his and Riku's friendship? Is that why Riku appeared strange, when he was really continuing what Sora had thrown away?
If Kairi had never come, would Sora be just like Riku?
Sora shook his head slightly, as if throwing the thought away.
"Sora?"
He jumped at Kairi's voice, and accidentally dropped the necklace into the deep, blue, water below.
It happened so quickly, that Sora was confused before it started. First Kairi screamed out, "THE NECKLACE!" Sora immediately stuck his hand under the ice-cold surface of the water and groped around for it. But Riku had also sprang up with Kairi's scream and tilted the boat in surprise, causing both Sora and Kairi to fall into the water.
Kairi, being right side up, grabbed onto the raft. But Sora, having his hand already in the water fell face forward. Kairi inhaled some air and held her breath, then went under water and tried to grab him, but Riku had run over to grab her, and she didn't get the chance.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? SORA IS GOING TO DROWN!" She screeched. And all that followed was screaming and hollering, so let's just divert the scene.
Sora felt water closing in around him, his body numbing, his insides twisting with pain from no air, he fought to get to the top, he knew he was going to drown, he had no chance at all of surviving.
Suddenly his lungs swelled with air. He opened his eyes into pitch black, and opened his mouth to see if it was true:
He could breathe underwater. Seconds passed. Then minutes. Sora just floated there, blinking with disbelief.
To add to his list of 'Strange Things that Happened to Me Today,' He then heard a high pitched giggle. Out of nowhere, a little girl appeared, laughing and twirling, creating bubbles and lighting his way. She had long blond hair, and in place of her legs and feet, she had a long, green, mermaid tail. In her left hand she held a doll against her flat chest, and it appeared to be made out of stone. Around her neck was a string with what appeared to be a key with no teeth.
"Um, excuse me," Sora shyly awaited her attention. The girl flapped her fins and smiled. Her voice seemed to shimmer as Sora's did, but they were underwater.
"Hello," She said in her high, childish voice. "My name is Ardis, guardian of the Lost Sea."
"What's the Lost Sea?"
"This is, you silly human!" She laughed her shimmering, high pitched laugh that made Sora feel as if he were six again. "I like you, you're different from the others, all they want is power and money. Nasty stuff, money, whatever it is, it must be very delicious, because everybody is always fighting over it." She frowned. "Do you want money?"
"What would I do with money? I don't need to buy anything, and if I did, I'd be out of luck because there are no stores on rafts-Oh my gosh, the raft! I need to go, Ardis, nice meeting you!" He started to swim towards the surface, but a young, annoying, blue-eyed, guardian-of-the-Lost-Sea stopped him.
"No! Don't go! I want you to stay and play!"
"I'm sorry, but I've got two friends up on the surface who think I've drowned! Please, Ardis! OW! Let GO!"
Sora's arm was held onto and Ardis hugged it close. She looked up and gave him a hurt face. "What is your name?"
"Sora, now please let me go, Ardis."
"No. I gave you the power to breathe underwater so you could play with me. I'm awful lonely and..and.." She started to cry very softly. At first Sora though they were fake and if he said he would play, she would stop crying immediately, but she was hugging her doll and his arm at the same time, and Sora stopped trying to get away. She reminded him of Kairi when she was about six or seven, how lonely she was before Sora offered to play with her, beginning their friendship together.
"Ardis?"
She looked up softly. Pearly tears were formed in her eyes but when they were freed, they blended with the water around them. It was a very interesting sight. Sora bent down so his face was even with hers and he smiled. Sora felt as if he was comforting a six-year-old Kairi instead of the mermaid, and it felt odd.
"Ardis?" He repeated.
"Mmm?" She mumbled.
"I have to go and let my friends know I'm all right. But I promise I'll be back. Just follow the raft, okay?"
"Where's the raft?"
"It floats on the surface, but you don't have to come out of the water, just follow it, okay?"
"Is that where you'll be?"
"Yes."
"And you promise to come and play with me?"
"Maybe I'll bring a friend, too, but you'll have to put your underwater spell on them, okay?" He smiled at the thought of Kairi meeting Ardis.
"Okay. Promise?"
"I promise."
"Bye, Sora."
"I'll see you around, Ardis."
Suddenly Sora felt something in his right hand. He shifted so he could see what was inside of it, and he unfurled his fingers to reveal the necklace of Thassala shells.
* * *
"He's dead, isn't he?" Said Kairi, looking into the water and beginning to cry.
"Well, he didn't have a chance of surviving. I'm so sorry, Kairi."
Riku and Kairi were sitting on the same side of the raft, side by side, mourning over Sora. They didn't know Sora was leaning on the mast right behind them, trying to figure out the best way to make an entrance. He chose the fact they were sitting on the same side of the raft.
"I'm surprised at you guys, sitting on the same side? I thought Riku said the raft would capsize!"
They both turned around; eyes open in horror, shock, and excitement at once. Kairi wasted no time in jumping up and hugging Sora, jumping up and down, starting about five sentences, but never finishing them. Riku was so speechless; he just sat there staring at Sora in extreme disbelief. Sora looked over Kairi's shoulder and smiled at him.
Sora waited until Kairi settled down to pull the necklace out of his pocket. She looked at it, then Sora, then the necklace again, and back. It looked like she was near faint. Her open mouth turned upward into a smile, and she burst out laughing.
"It's immpossi..amazi..Sora..how..when.."
"Yes." Said Riku, who had spotted the necklace. "When. When did you come out of the water? An hour ago? Did you just swim to the other side of the raft and decided to make an entrance? Hid behind a barrel until you knew it was time to 'astonish' us?"
"Riku..no! Why would I do that? I knew you guys were worried, well, one was, you don't seem to happy I came back."
"Because I know it was just a scheme! You wanted to be super-man-who-could breathe-underwater-for-an-hour-or-so!"
Sora smiled. "Now you're making sense. If I told you a water guardian helped me, would you still think it was a scheme?"
"Yes, and let me guess, you can fly."
"Riku-"
"Sora, if this is your idea of a joke-"
"Riku, you have to believe me! I'm afraid I don't have any proof, but I really can breathe underwater-"
"Yeah, right, sure-"
"STOP IT!"
The two both looked at Kairi after she had screamed. They had never seen her this angry. "I'm tired of you two fighting! Just, just let it go, okay? Just be glad Sora didn't drown, joke or no joke! I want this to be a safe trip, which means no fighting! So shut up, both of you, and I want his to be over, forgive and forget, all right?"
Sora and Riku backed away from Kairi, who was steaming mad. They looked at each other. Suddenly they all started to laugh, even Kairi. They laughed until they all hurt, and smiled until they fell asleep.
* * *
Sora sat up and gazed into the dark water reflecting the moonlight. He thought about Ardis and how lonely it would be with out friends, and whenever you got the chance to talk to humans, they obviously were power- hungry and fought over money. What had she said about that? Money must be delicious?
Sora smiled. She had obviously had not much experience with humans.
Still, he thought as he folded both arms around his hair and lay on them, all she wanted was a friend..
He yawned and rolled over, drifting into a deep sleep.
Something was tugging at him. He opened his eyes. "What?" He looked over.
Kairi was pulling on his jacket. "I want to know the truth. What happened?"
Sora groaned, having been sleeping peacefully. "I TOLD you. A water guardian"-he yawned-"helped me.." He was about to fall asleep again.
Kairi poked him.
"OW!" He sat up, blinking.
Kairi frowned. "I don't believe you, Sora. There's no such thing as magic. Even Selphie knows THAT."
Sora lay back down. "Believe what you want. But just two words," he curled up again. "Poupu fruit."
Kairi blinked and watched his breathing steady back to deep breaths. She thought of what he said. Poupu fruit? OH, as in the 'Magical bond' poupu fruit. She rolled her eyes as she lay back down again. I don't believe in poupu magic, she thought.
Suddenly she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned and looked out into the water. She raised her eyebrows. I must be losing my mind, she said as she turned back around and started to fall asleep. I thought I saw some kind of green tail..
This is a tiny story, involving what would happen if Sora, Riku, and Kairi all went out on the raft as they had planned. It's not very good, and it links to the book "Search for Delicious" by Natalie Babbit, but I've had it all curled up in my files for a while and didn't expect to do anything with it, so consider yourself lucky to be reading this! ^ ^
* * *
"Last check!" Riku called as he came back from where ever he was.
"Okay," Sora closed his eyes and thought. "We've got the rope, the fish, the coconuts, the mushrooms, the seagull egg, are you sure one is enough?"
Kairi scowled. "I still think one is too much."
"We need the protein, and yes, it's enough. The winds are strong, and will be for a couple days. That will take us to where ever we're going." Riku pointed out.
Sora laughed. "Which, the wind or the seagull egg?"
Kairi smiled and leaned over so her mouth was near Sora's ear. "I need to talk to you before we go. I think this is important."
Sora turned to face her. "Okay, sure," he looked back towards Riku. "We'll be right back."
He followed Kairi to the secret place. The walls seemed to whisper, because of the echoing water right outside of the cave. Sora and Kairi walked on through the damp hallway until they entered the enormous room, where they had scribbled on the walls with rocks when they were younger.
As soon as they entered, Sora started to wander around, glancing from drawing to drawing. "I'm sure going to miss this place."
"I'm going to miss our funny pictures of each oth- huh?" Kairi's eyes fell on the picture of Sora and her, when they were about six or seven, and frowned at the newly drawn poupu fruit in between. "What's that doing there?"
Sora shifted away from her so she wouldn't be able to see the red patches on his cheeks. "Well..see..um.."
"You drew that there?" She smiled at the thought. Had Sora wanted to share the poupu fruit with her? "When?"
"Yesterday."
"Why?"
Silence followed.
Kairi placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him around to look at her straight on. Sora expected a sharp giggle to cut into his skin.
"Why, Sora?"
Seeing no way out, Sora answered. "If anything ever happened to the three of us, I wanted to make sure we would never lose each other."
Kairi smiled. "Why did you lose the race? Did you do it on purpose?"
Sora had never found the ground so fascinating. "Yes."
"Because of Riku?"
"If we shared a poupu, I wouldn't want him to know about it."
"Why?"
"Because..oh, I don't know.."
"It would be more romantic?" Asked Kairi, edging closer to Sora.
"Well." Sora leaned away from Kairi, she was getting too close, and way off the subject. If Sora ever did share a poupu with Kairi, if Riku knew, he would tease them, that's all, who said anything about romantic? Kairi was getting closer, and started to aim her mouth toward his, closing her eyes..
Sora stepped out of the way. "Kairi..?"
Her eyes popped open and she blinked. "Hmm, what?"
Sora was still taking in what Kairi had attempted to do. "Wasn't there a reason you brought me here?"
"Oh. Yes." She said, disappointed. She pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to Sora. "It's my necklace of Thassala shells. I want you to have it."
Sora took it and looked at her. "Are you mad?"
"No. Fine. Great. Terrific." She painfully smiled, and Sora knew it was a fake. She started to walk out of the secret place. Sora thought of the journey, which he didn't want to have Kairi mad at him through.
"Wait, Kairi!" He called, and couldn't believe what he had made up his mind to do. She turned, and quickly, before she could question him, leaned forward, touched his lips to hers, thanked her for the necklace, and ran back out of the cave, leaving her bewildered.
Sora was a bit dazed himself, but somehow it felt better knowing he did it to cheer her up, not because he liked her. The effect it might have had on Kairi might have been bigger, because she was going for the first kiss.
When he caught up with Riku, he was leaning against the mast of the raft. "What took you so long? What did she want?"
"She just gave me this necklace." Sora held it out so Riku could see.
Riku rolled his eyes. "She could have given you that in front of me."
"We were just looking at our old drawings."
"And that's it?"
"Yeah, that's it." Sora lied.
"Oh, okay," Riku said and turned around to push a barrel onto the raft. "Your face is bright red."
Did you ever notice how sand is made up of little rocks? Well that's what Sora noticed as he looked down at the ground again..
* * *
Sora and Riku pushed the sand into the water. Riku's side immediately was floating, drifting in the water, but Sora's even though he was pushing as hard as he could, required Riku's assistance.
"You still don't got it," Riku had said. Sora pouted. Kairi laughed.
In fact nothing had wavered between Kairi and Sora. Riku knew, and he took the opportunity to tease them as hard as he could. They didn't mind. They knew he was jealous of Sora.
It was about midday, and Riku had discovered a small leak in the raft, and was tending to it. Sora offered to help, but Riku pointed out if more people stayed at one side of the raft than the other it would capsize. So Sora Stayed with Kairi.
They had all abandoned their shoes, and Kairi was trailing her feet in the water at the back of the raft. Sora joined her.
"Wearing my necklace, I see." Kairi noticed. Sora smiled and took it off to have a better look.
"You really worked hard on it. I couldn't not wear it." He pointed to a shell. "I like this shell. Its color is different from the others, and it's all twisted and misshapen." He laughed. "I wonder why I like it."
"Maybe because it can't help but be different. Kind of like Riku."
They both looked over at Riku, who was strapping down a patch on the other side of the raft.
Kairi's words echoed in his mind. Can't help but be different? Riku? Since when was he different? Sora's memory took him back to when they were very little, Riku and himself. He wasn't different then. In fact, they both were odd, and proud to be strange. Riku had valued that far better than Sora did. When Kairi came into the picture, had she brought Sora down to earth, permanently damaging his and Riku's friendship? Is that why Riku appeared strange, when he was really continuing what Sora had thrown away?
If Kairi had never come, would Sora be just like Riku?
Sora shook his head slightly, as if throwing the thought away.
"Sora?"
He jumped at Kairi's voice, and accidentally dropped the necklace into the deep, blue, water below.
It happened so quickly, that Sora was confused before it started. First Kairi screamed out, "THE NECKLACE!" Sora immediately stuck his hand under the ice-cold surface of the water and groped around for it. But Riku had also sprang up with Kairi's scream and tilted the boat in surprise, causing both Sora and Kairi to fall into the water.
Kairi, being right side up, grabbed onto the raft. But Sora, having his hand already in the water fell face forward. Kairi inhaled some air and held her breath, then went under water and tried to grab him, but Riku had run over to grab her, and she didn't get the chance.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? SORA IS GOING TO DROWN!" She screeched. And all that followed was screaming and hollering, so let's just divert the scene.
Sora felt water closing in around him, his body numbing, his insides twisting with pain from no air, he fought to get to the top, he knew he was going to drown, he had no chance at all of surviving.
Suddenly his lungs swelled with air. He opened his eyes into pitch black, and opened his mouth to see if it was true:
He could breathe underwater. Seconds passed. Then minutes. Sora just floated there, blinking with disbelief.
To add to his list of 'Strange Things that Happened to Me Today,' He then heard a high pitched giggle. Out of nowhere, a little girl appeared, laughing and twirling, creating bubbles and lighting his way. She had long blond hair, and in place of her legs and feet, she had a long, green, mermaid tail. In her left hand she held a doll against her flat chest, and it appeared to be made out of stone. Around her neck was a string with what appeared to be a key with no teeth.
"Um, excuse me," Sora shyly awaited her attention. The girl flapped her fins and smiled. Her voice seemed to shimmer as Sora's did, but they were underwater.
"Hello," She said in her high, childish voice. "My name is Ardis, guardian of the Lost Sea."
"What's the Lost Sea?"
"This is, you silly human!" She laughed her shimmering, high pitched laugh that made Sora feel as if he were six again. "I like you, you're different from the others, all they want is power and money. Nasty stuff, money, whatever it is, it must be very delicious, because everybody is always fighting over it." She frowned. "Do you want money?"
"What would I do with money? I don't need to buy anything, and if I did, I'd be out of luck because there are no stores on rafts-Oh my gosh, the raft! I need to go, Ardis, nice meeting you!" He started to swim towards the surface, but a young, annoying, blue-eyed, guardian-of-the-Lost-Sea stopped him.
"No! Don't go! I want you to stay and play!"
"I'm sorry, but I've got two friends up on the surface who think I've drowned! Please, Ardis! OW! Let GO!"
Sora's arm was held onto and Ardis hugged it close. She looked up and gave him a hurt face. "What is your name?"
"Sora, now please let me go, Ardis."
"No. I gave you the power to breathe underwater so you could play with me. I'm awful lonely and..and.." She started to cry very softly. At first Sora though they were fake and if he said he would play, she would stop crying immediately, but she was hugging her doll and his arm at the same time, and Sora stopped trying to get away. She reminded him of Kairi when she was about six or seven, how lonely she was before Sora offered to play with her, beginning their friendship together.
"Ardis?"
She looked up softly. Pearly tears were formed in her eyes but when they were freed, they blended with the water around them. It was a very interesting sight. Sora bent down so his face was even with hers and he smiled. Sora felt as if he was comforting a six-year-old Kairi instead of the mermaid, and it felt odd.
"Ardis?" He repeated.
"Mmm?" She mumbled.
"I have to go and let my friends know I'm all right. But I promise I'll be back. Just follow the raft, okay?"
"Where's the raft?"
"It floats on the surface, but you don't have to come out of the water, just follow it, okay?"
"Is that where you'll be?"
"Yes."
"And you promise to come and play with me?"
"Maybe I'll bring a friend, too, but you'll have to put your underwater spell on them, okay?" He smiled at the thought of Kairi meeting Ardis.
"Okay. Promise?"
"I promise."
"Bye, Sora."
"I'll see you around, Ardis."
Suddenly Sora felt something in his right hand. He shifted so he could see what was inside of it, and he unfurled his fingers to reveal the necklace of Thassala shells.
* * *
"He's dead, isn't he?" Said Kairi, looking into the water and beginning to cry.
"Well, he didn't have a chance of surviving. I'm so sorry, Kairi."
Riku and Kairi were sitting on the same side of the raft, side by side, mourning over Sora. They didn't know Sora was leaning on the mast right behind them, trying to figure out the best way to make an entrance. He chose the fact they were sitting on the same side of the raft.
"I'm surprised at you guys, sitting on the same side? I thought Riku said the raft would capsize!"
They both turned around; eyes open in horror, shock, and excitement at once. Kairi wasted no time in jumping up and hugging Sora, jumping up and down, starting about five sentences, but never finishing them. Riku was so speechless; he just sat there staring at Sora in extreme disbelief. Sora looked over Kairi's shoulder and smiled at him.
Sora waited until Kairi settled down to pull the necklace out of his pocket. She looked at it, then Sora, then the necklace again, and back. It looked like she was near faint. Her open mouth turned upward into a smile, and she burst out laughing.
"It's immpossi..amazi..Sora..how..when.."
"Yes." Said Riku, who had spotted the necklace. "When. When did you come out of the water? An hour ago? Did you just swim to the other side of the raft and decided to make an entrance? Hid behind a barrel until you knew it was time to 'astonish' us?"
"Riku..no! Why would I do that? I knew you guys were worried, well, one was, you don't seem to happy I came back."
"Because I know it was just a scheme! You wanted to be super-man-who-could breathe-underwater-for-an-hour-or-so!"
Sora smiled. "Now you're making sense. If I told you a water guardian helped me, would you still think it was a scheme?"
"Yes, and let me guess, you can fly."
"Riku-"
"Sora, if this is your idea of a joke-"
"Riku, you have to believe me! I'm afraid I don't have any proof, but I really can breathe underwater-"
"Yeah, right, sure-"
"STOP IT!"
The two both looked at Kairi after she had screamed. They had never seen her this angry. "I'm tired of you two fighting! Just, just let it go, okay? Just be glad Sora didn't drown, joke or no joke! I want this to be a safe trip, which means no fighting! So shut up, both of you, and I want his to be over, forgive and forget, all right?"
Sora and Riku backed away from Kairi, who was steaming mad. They looked at each other. Suddenly they all started to laugh, even Kairi. They laughed until they all hurt, and smiled until they fell asleep.
* * *
Sora sat up and gazed into the dark water reflecting the moonlight. He thought about Ardis and how lonely it would be with out friends, and whenever you got the chance to talk to humans, they obviously were power- hungry and fought over money. What had she said about that? Money must be delicious?
Sora smiled. She had obviously had not much experience with humans.
Still, he thought as he folded both arms around his hair and lay on them, all she wanted was a friend..
He yawned and rolled over, drifting into a deep sleep.
Something was tugging at him. He opened his eyes. "What?" He looked over.
Kairi was pulling on his jacket. "I want to know the truth. What happened?"
Sora groaned, having been sleeping peacefully. "I TOLD you. A water guardian"-he yawned-"helped me.." He was about to fall asleep again.
Kairi poked him.
"OW!" He sat up, blinking.
Kairi frowned. "I don't believe you, Sora. There's no such thing as magic. Even Selphie knows THAT."
Sora lay back down. "Believe what you want. But just two words," he curled up again. "Poupu fruit."
Kairi blinked and watched his breathing steady back to deep breaths. She thought of what he said. Poupu fruit? OH, as in the 'Magical bond' poupu fruit. She rolled her eyes as she lay back down again. I don't believe in poupu magic, she thought.
Suddenly she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned and looked out into the water. She raised her eyebrows. I must be losing my mind, she said as she turned back around and started to fall asleep. I thought I saw some kind of green tail..