Dear Sora,
It's been four long, agonising years since you left me. Today is the day where Namine and I will go to visit you where you sleep peacefully. I'm wearing my black dress, the one you loved so much, just for you. I wish I didn't have to.. Not for this.. I know now that wishes don't come true, or you would have gotten better. I should have tried harder; hoped with all of my heart that you wouldn't be sick anymore. I cou-
"Kairi, hurry up!" Namine called from downstairs, stopping Kairi in mid sentence. She was grateful that Namine called her when she did. If she'd poured her heart out any more, she would have broken down completely. Kairi dried her tears, shoved the letter she was writing into her desk drawer with many others she didn't have the will to finish, and slowly made her way downstairs. She saw Namine at the foot of the stairs gazing at the floor, a blank expression on her face. She looked up when she heard her coming. She must have noticed how puffy Kairi's eyes looked, because she pulled her into a tight embrace. "Oh, Kairi..." Namine murmured rubbing the red-head's back. She pulled away a few minutes later.
"Are you alright?" Kairi whispered. Namine looked as if she was about to say something, but changed her mind. Instead, she just nodded and called to their parents that they were leaving. Their mother walked over and pulled both girls into a hug, their father not far behind.
"Be careful." Their mother said handing Namine a bouquet of blood-red roses.
"We will.." said Kairi, wiping away the tears that were threatening to fall once again. Together, Kairi and Namine walked out into the cool October air. The walk was silent all the way to the graveyard. The only sounds that could be heard were the dead brown leaves crunching beneath their feet, and the distant sound of thunder indicating that it would rain soon. Within ten minutes, they had reached their destination. They searched all the gravestones for one particular name. Finally, Kairi stopped in front of Sora's. It already had a bouquet of peonies left in front of it, so Kairi assumed that Sora's family has stopped by before them. Namine came over to stand by her sister, wrapping an arm around her.
"I miss him too, Kairi." she said. She let go of her to carefully place the roses on the ground next to the others. The petals seemed to glow compared to the pale stone. Kairi kneeled before the grave, staring at it.
"I hope you are very happy wherever you are, Sora. You will always be in my heart." Kairi brushed her fingers along the epitaph. "I will never forget you, I can promise you that." She could her Namine shifting behind her, sniffling. Kairi turned and offered her a hand. She hesitated for a moment before taking it, and allowed Kairi to pull her down next to her.
They sat in silence as the rain started to fall.
The boy ran as fast as he could. He knew he shouldn't stop, because he could still hear the frantic footsteps echoing on the concrete behind him. It was difficult to see with his dark wet hair getting into his golden eyes.
"Don't let him get away!" a voice ordered behind him. The boy quickly looked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of a tall man with flaming red hair. Axel. He was accompanied by a man with an eyepatch, and an angry-looking pink-haired guy. And, with his luck, all of these assholes were after him.
"Shit!" he muttered to himself. He had to lose them. He made a sharp right turn down another long street, almost tripping over his own feet. His pursuers were slowly falling behind. He spotted an alley, and quickly ran to a nearby dumpster. He hopped in and closed the lid. Almost a minute later, he could hear voices in the alleyway.
"Where the fuck did he go? He couldn't have just disappeared." He recognised this as Axel's voice. Then again, how could he forget after everything that's happened between them?
"He couldn't have gotten far." another voice answered.
"What are we doing standing around then?" Axel yelled. "We ain't got all day, we'll split up and start searching." He could hear his voice trailing as they moved away from the alley. To make certain they were gone, he waited for a few more minutes. Seeing that they weren't coming back, he climbed out of the dumpster and peeked around the corner. The coast was clear, so he started walking back the way he came.
His phone rang in his pocket, and he hesitated before answering.
"Hello?"
"Vanitas, where the hell are you?! You were supposed to be back an hour ago!" a furious boy's voice came through the phone making Vanitas cringe.
"Calm down, Ventus. I just lost track of time."
"Don't lie to me. You're never this late."
Vanitas paused for a minute and decided that it was best to just tell him the truth. Lying would get him nowhere.
"I just had a run-in with Axel.." Vanitas explained.
"He's still after you?" Ventus asked, the anger leaving his tone. "I thought he promised to leave you alone."
"I did too." said Vanitas seeking shelter under someone's porch so he wouldn't be any more drenched than he already was. "He might still be holding that grudge against me."
"For putting him in jail..." Ventus murmured. Vanitas nodded, but then remembered that he couldn't see him.
"Yeah." he answered.
"Well.. Make sure you come home safely, okay? Mum's worried about you.." said Ventus.
"Okay. I will." Vanitas said running a hand through his hair to get it out of his eyes. He then hung up with a sigh. He stepped out from under the porch, and into the rain, slowly making his way home. On the way there, he passed the old cemetary. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two girls kneeling before a grave. One was blonde, the other was red-headed. He felt a small pang of pity. He knew how much it hurt to be in that position, because he'd lost his father a few years back.
The whole thing was a blur. He remembered how his mother was crying the hardest, and Ventus was hugging her, trying to hold back tears himself and failing miserably. He remembered how everyone that was close with their family was at the funeral. The sky looked gray and melancholy, exactly how it was now. He was the only one who didn't cry, because that day it felt as if all the emotion was drained from his body.
Shaking those thoughts away, Vanitas shoved his hands in his pockets and continued to trudge down the sidewalk until he reached his front door. He pulled his key out of his pocket and unlocked it. He didn't hear anyone moving around, but he knew that Ven and his mother were there.
"I'm home!" he called. His mother poked her head from around the kitchen corner.
"Where have you been? I was worried sick about you!" she said walking over and hugging him tight.
"It's okay, Mum. I'm okay." Vanitas murmured. She pulled back to look at his face.
"You're all wet." she said, her voice filled with worry. "Go take a shower and change before you catch a cold."
"Okay." said Vanitas. As he was heading up the stairs, he spotted Ven at the top staring down at him.
"Glad you could make it." he said, and Vanitas could practically see the sarcasm dripping from his words.
"Sorry..." Vanitas muttered, barely audible.
"Mum was really worried. She thought you got beat up again..." Ventus murmured, his eyes downcast.
"I said I was sorry!" Vanitas said, his words coming out a little harsher than he intended. Ven looked a bit taken back at his tone, and turned to walk away.
"Ven, wait. I didn't mean.." Vanitas started, walking after the blonde. But by the time he reached him he'd already shut his bedroom door in his face. "Great.." Vanitas muttered to himself. He slowly made his way to his own room, and collapsed face first onto his bed. At that moment, all he wanted to sleep. And hopefully never wake up.
The two sisters hurried home as the rain came down harder. They made it to the door, and Namine knocked because neither of them bothered to bring their key. A few seconds later, their mother opened the door and ushered them inside.
"It's really coming down today, isn't it?" she commented closing the door behind the girls. Kairi nodded in agreement, and took her shoes off, Namine doing the same. "You should get out of those wet clothes before you get sick."
"We will." said Kairi. Namine was already on her way up the stairs, trailing rain drops behind her. Kairi made her way around the small puddles to avoid falling down the stairs. She walked to her bedroom and got her things ready to take a long, hot shower. She knew that she needed it. She was shivering, and soaked from head to toe in rain water. To make matters worse, the air conditioner was on. She didn't know why, because it was usually cold enough this time of year.
Namine knocked on the door frame, making Kairi jump.
"Are you doing okay?" she asked.
"Yeah.. I'm fine." said Kairi. "Are you okay?"
"Mhm.. Just a little cold." Namine said rubbing her arm. There was a comfortable silence, then Namine spoke up again.
"You can always talk to me, you know that right?" she asked.
"Yeah, I do. Why?" Kairi asked tucking a lock of ruby hair behind her ear. Namine hesitated before answering.
"You seemed a little...off this week." she said sheepishly, hiding her electric blue eyes with her bangs. Kairi realised that she was right. She had felt a bit depressed this week. She didn't eat much, and she could hardly sleep. Kairi shifted her gaze to her feet.
"I know. I don't really know why, but I feel..." Kairi didn't know how to put it. It was a feeling between longing, sorrow, frustration, and something else she couldn't quite place. She guessed it was because she knew the four-year anniversary of Sora's death was this week. "No," she thought. "I don't think that's it."
She was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice Namine walking toward her. Next thing she knew, she was held in a tight embrace.
"I know how you feel." Namine murmured.
"How can you when I don't even know what I'm feeling?" Kairi thought. Yet, she returned the hug anyway, and after a moment they both pulled away. "I'll be with you every step of the way." Kairi couldn't help but smile.
"Thank you, Namine." she said. Namine nodded, and slowly walked back to her room. Kairi waited until she closed her door to release the tears she'd been holding back all morning.