As the sun started to set on the horizon, one of its last rays lay upon a star shaped shell lying on the sand. A boy ran towards it. This will look just fine on mom's nightstand, he thought, opening his bag to put it away with the others. It had been a great afternoon and he had gotten himself quite a collection. As soon as he knelt down to pick it up, though, it was gone.
"Looking for this?" The six-year-old kid lifted his head up and saw nothing but a smile. A girl about his age with short reddish brown hair and big blue eyes was holding the shell right in front of him. She tilted her head to the side and laughed.
"Hey…" He narrowed his eyes
"It's ok, you can have it." She offered the shell to him and he stood up. She looked friendly… and somehow familiar.
"Hi. I'm Sora." He grinned
"My name is Kairi" The girl beamed at him, with her hands at her hips.
"Kairi?" Sora stared at her for a while. She was wearing a white shirt and purple skirt. She also had yellow wristbands on both hands and a necklace. Kairi… Her eyes reflected the pink sky and the sun, just about to set and Sora felt time stop for just the fraction of a second. "That's a pretty name."
Somewhere far away from the island and further away from their knowledge, someone watched the sunset as the kids ran together towards the tree house.
"So, did it work?" A squeaky little voice asked
"Perfectly"
9 years later
Sora was having the best day, as usual. His mood only improved when he opened the doors and saw tons of other kids hurrying to their classrooms, chatting happily or just hating Mondays. How could anyone hate the first day of school? Sora thought to himself. High school. He had been looking forward to this day so much. He patted his own stomach, trying to exchange the butterflies rounding up for the fact that all of these people could be his friends by the end of the year. And boy, did Sora love making friends.
On top of everything, he was finally going to the same school than no less than his very best friend. As he paced the halls slowly, taking his time to admire the scene, he felt glad he had a mentor. Being a year older than him, Riku would definitely show him all high school tricks, the best spots, where to eat, where to study, where to go out, everything. This day couldn't get any better.
"Sora?" Or could it?
The boy turned around and the sun actually shone a little brighter. And they were indoors.
"Kairi?" Did his voice just raise an octave? He didn't even bother in hiding his enthusiasm… or clearing his throat. "Woah, what are you… Do you go to this school?"
"No, I'm here for the food." She grinned and he melted. "Of course I go here, silly. Hey, I heard Riku's here to. Have you seen him?"
"No, I was just…"
Before he could answer, Sora got distracted by Ooh and Aah sounds made by some students as three girls made their way down the hallway. People actually made way for them to pass and Sora could have sworn he saw one of them bow. All three of them were wearing dresses and heels. The one in the center was a blonde and wearing a pink dress, so was the one in the right, also a blonde. The girl in the left wore an orange dress, brunette.
Kairi raised an eyebrow, staring at Sora as he watched them pass, not even glancing at him. He turned around, suppressing a wow, when suddenly he saw someone else approaching.
"Hey look, it's Riku!" He said. Kairi turned around and saw her friend coming their way along with two other people. One of them was a blonde boy wearing a green shirt and a beanie, same shade of green. The other one was a… girl? It was hard to tell, she was so tiny. Sora waved energetically at his friend. "Riku, hey! Over here!"
The white haired boy met his glance briefly and gave him half a smile.
"Oh, right, Sora." He sighed and stared at the girl, kind of surprised. It was hard to tell, since he looked so laid back. "Hey Kairi, long time no see. Didn't know you went here as well"
"Yep. Seems like we'll be seeing each other for more than just the summer, huh?" She rocked her body side by side with her hands clasped at her back, as she usually did.
"Hey, Riku, I was wondering…" Sora started. Riku looked back at his friends and the girl made a face.
"You know what… I gotta get to class. See you around." He didn't linger for an answer.
"Uhm, yeah… See you, I guess."
Sora stared as they walked away. So, maybe he hated Mondays?
"Who was that brat?" He heard in the distance and felt Kairi tugging at his arm.
"Come on, we're gonna be late for class."
He smiled and let her pull him all the way to the classroom. Yep, this was going to be a great year.
Link was having the worst day, as usual. He looked like a carton of milk compared to all the other students, and everyone staring only made him more aware of that. He had gone to the beach once over the summer. Once. And only at Navi's insistence. She could be such a pain in the ass when she set her mind to it. He had actually been kindda, sorta enjoying himself until he decided to take off his shirt. Man, he thought at least girls would be discrete. One of them even took a picture, and he was pretty sure it wasn't of his face.
Nope, the lake by the mill would have to do. No matter how many times Navi begged or how great Riku said it was. He would live without it.
Back in school, however, things were just as uncomfortable as always. Girls were staring too much… they always stared too much. And he just had no idea how to deal with all that attention. He wasn't Riku.
"HEY LINK!" Speaking of girls…
The most annoying little voice in the world was followed by what could possibly be the smallest person on earth. Her short blue hair matched her blue eyes. She was wearing shorts and a white shirt and she had a light blue bag hanging from one shoulder. She was so tiny and skinny and tiny… She looked like a pocket doll or a pixie.
"Hey Na…" The girl had to stand on her toes in order to reach the guy's cheek. She kissed him like a mother would kiss a 6 year old and almost strangled him with one arm. He always forgot how surprisingly strong she was for her size… and her lack of respect for personal space. "Easy, lemme breathe."
"Oh, don't be such a kid. I haven't seen you in a while. You seen Riku yet?"
"No, I just got…"
"HEY RIKU!"
Link brought one hand to his no longer functional ear and felt himself being pulled down by the girl again. She had found their friend and was hugging them both at the same time.
"How's it going, you guys?" Riku patted Link in the shoulder and made a face when Navi kissed him. "Cut it out."
"Shut up, I haven't seen you all summer! How was it?"
"You know, same old stuff."
The three of them entered the school and started walking straight to the end of the hallway, towards the stairs that led to the second floor. Link tried to avoid eye contact from students and teachers, and made his best to ignore the whispers once he had passed.
"Hey Riku, over here!"
"Aww crap…"
Link and Navi exchanged a look. Was that kid actually waving at Riku?
"Oh right, Sora …"
They waited for their friend to finish making small talk with the kid and proceeded their way to the stairs.
"Who was that brat?" Navi asked
"You have some nerve calling anybody a brat." Link raised an eyebrow
"Just a friend from that island I always spend the summer at." Riku explained. "His parents are friends with mine and they suggested he should go to the same high school as me."
"The girl was pretty, though." Navi insisted on the topic
"She was like, 12" Link said in disgust
"She's 15. And I gotta say… she kicked up pretty well over the summer. Hadn't noticed." Riku started up the stairs when he noticed his friend walking in another direction. "Hey, you're not coming?"
Link turned around to face his friends. "To class?" his expression said it all.
"See ya later."
He came out through the back door and reached for the ladder that went all the way to the roof. He smiled, for the first time that day, glad he didn't need to jump in order to reach it anymore. He dropped his bag at his usual spot and sat down. Took off the beanie and ran a hand through his golden hair. Finally some peace and quiet.
Link stared at the forest and sighed. One more year… He opened his bag, took out the ocarina, sucked in some air and started playing that lullaby. The one that had always been so familiar, but he could never really tell where it came from.
"Party at my place!" Sora had heard Riku yell from the other side of the cafeteria. Where he was sitting with his friends. Other friends who weren't him. For the fifth day in a row.
It was only natural that he would want to catch up with his friends. After all, he and Sora had just spent all summer together. It was normal for him to be so distracted catching up with his classmates that he didn't even notice Sora waving at him in the hallway. The whole week.
As Friday approached, he wasn't sure if he'd actually been invited to this party. Not until his mom said Riku had called and asked if he was planning to drop by. Sora had insisted they picked up Kairi first. She didn't have her parents to drive her and he was sure the people from social services wouldn't help. Plus, he didn't want to be alone. Not that he wasn't going to hang out with Riku. No, that wasn't it at all.
Just cause.
His mom had considered it for a while. It was kind of a detour from their actual destiny… But how could she say 'no' to that face? And there they were, just outside Riku's door, ringing the bell for the third time.
"The music must be too loud" Kairi smiled. It was cute how she never got upset about anything. It made Sora feel kindda guilty for having the remote thought that maybe; just maybe, Riku didn't really want them to come.
Sora took a deep breath as the door finally opened.
"The doorbell has rung over three times!" Navi cried
"Then get it" She heard Riku growl from the kitchen.
Link was lazily scanning through Navi's ipod. "Why do you always have to be so loud?" He asked as the girl passed next to him, towards the door, Link threatened to change the song, but she snatched the ipod out of his hands and gave him a look.
"Why do you always have to be so weird?" She retorted without noticing the smirk on his face. Out of all the other girls in the party – and probably the world – Navi must be the only one who dared to treat him like that, and frankly, he was perfectly fine with it. He preferred it so much to the usual shying away, staring too much or the occasional brave teenage girls who worked up some nerve and actually tried to talk to him.
Navi opened the door and found a couple of kids about her size waving awkwardly. "Oh hi. Riku, your, uhm, friends are here?"
"What? Who?" Riku made his way through a group of teens chatting in the living room to the place where his younger friends stood. They looked totally out of place. "Oh… guys I'm glad you could make it."
Navi choked back a laugh. As Riku showed them to a table full of food and drinks, she pulled him back. Link joined them "Hey, I know they're your summer island friends and everything, but…"
"My mom made me invite them" Riku said. "Now that he's in high school, his mom wants to make sure he fits in. And Kairi doesn't really know anyone around so…" His friends both raised an eyebrow. "Look, I know they're young, but they're alright."
Link raised his hands. "Hey, I didn't say anything"
"As long as they don't tell on us…" Navi glanced at the cooler where all the beers were hidden.
"They better not. Lance and G are coming over tonight and I really want them to enjoy the party." Riku stated as if it was the most important thing in the world.
"Sure, sure. We all know you want your bitches to like you" Navi laughed and Link snorted. Lance and G were bad news and he didn't like Riku being so excited about them one bit.
Sora was bored. Not that the ambience wasn't… stimulating. The lights were too dim, the music was too loud, and several people were dancing and chatting. And then there was Kairi, just standing there tapping her feet to the music without a care in the world. Gosh, this girl could go to a politics conference and have quite a time of it.
"I'm gonna go to the ladies' room." She said. "Be right back"
The boy cast a look around. He recognized some of the students from Riku's classes, people he'd seen in school a couple of times. The girls were wearing too much make up, even the pretty ones. Most of them were also wearing clothes two sizes too small. Those were the girls with most boys around them. Plus, everybody had a drink in hand. What was so great about soda? People was laughing too much at stuff that wasn't even funny, dancing at their own rhythm and stumbling upon each other.
Sora just didn't get it. He wished they were back at the island, racing or fighting with sticks. He caught a glimpse of Riku, laughing with a group of guys and decided to take a chance.
"Hey" he managed, trying to sound not too embarrassed.
"Sora, how's it going?" Riku answered casually. Well, at least he answered.
"Great, just waiting for Kairi." He glanced at Riku's friends, several inches taller than he was, and pulled him away just a bit. "Say, Riku. I think there's something odd about your friends. What is that?" Sora stared as a guy opened the cooler and took out a golden can. Riku stiffened.
"Uhm, you know what…" Before he could finish, one of his friends interrupted.
"Hey, we're out of beer. We should go to Red's, I heard he stole a bottle of rum from his uncle's bar last night".
"You're drinking?" Sora frowned. He'd heard his mom go on and on about how kids his age shouldn't drink and how he should make good friends in high school, the kind of kids who weren't into alcohol or drugs. Riku wasn't exacly Sora's age, but still…
"Chill out, Sora" Come to think of it, Riku looked kind of odd too. Plus, he smelled weird. One of his friends whispered something to him. Suddenly, he grinned. "Hey, you wanna play a game?"
"Uh… Sure" Sora didn't think he'd like where this was going. Some of Riku's friends started to gather at his side.
"It's called seven minutes in heaven. We'll lock you up in the closet with a girl for seven whole minutes. What do you think?"
"Heh… I don't…" Sora took a few steps back, but one of the guys grabbed him by the shoulder and practically dragged him to the closet.
"And you know who's dying to get in there with you?" Riku opened the door and let his friends throw him inside.
"Uh-who?" Sora was beyond nervous
"Kairi, of course. She'll be here in just a sec." Riku closed the door and locked it. He didn't even wait for Sora to retort.
"R-really? Ok… I'll be right here". Sora sat down in the dark. There wasn't much room, it was hard to move. He embraced his knees with his arms and waited.
"What a loser". Someone said at the other side of the door, but of course they weren't talking about Sora.
Riku hesitated for a moment before turning back to his friends. He caught sight of Kairi, making her way to meet him half way.
"Hey, did you see Sora?" She asked sweetly.
"He just left" He said, avoiding eye contact.
"Oh… that's weird. Well, I guess I'll get going too."
Riku stared numbly as he let his friend peck him in the cheek and walk away, a little confused. Did he really just do that? He didn't mean to be such a dick to Sora. It's just… he was such a kid and this was a party. He shouldn't have invited him in the first place. He felt Lance's hand on his shoulder.
"We're all going to Red's. Come on." Riku shook it out and followed his friend.
Sora played with the key in his hand. It felt heavy. Any moment now… Although, several 'moments' had passed already. He'd gone over what they would do about ten times now. First, the door would open and Kairi would fall next to him, laughing. Of course, he'd ask her weather she was ok. Once he was sure she wasn't hurt, he'd… He would…
What should I do?
His initial plan had been to talk to her about school or something. But then he had remembered what teenagers usually do in these '7 minutes in heaven' thing: kiss. Should he ask her to kiss him or just go ahead and do it? What if she felt grossed out by it? He didn't think she would. Kairi was more into grown up stuff than she let on.
They'd kissed before. In the cheek, that is… And for heaven's sake, they weren't 10 anymore. Nonetheless, Sora still blushed like the first time every time she did it. He'd only gotten better at hiding it. She was the one who always started that kind of thing. She'd even suggested they played spin the bottle a couple of years ago one night at Destiny Islands, where the three of them met. Riku was excited about it, but Sora didn't think it was such a good idea. He was forced to play after the fifth time they called him a baby, but when the bottle landed on him and Riku, suddenly his friend thought this wasn't such a good idea anymore. Kairi had laughed and insisted they did as the bottle said.
If he was lucky, she'd go in and kiss him first. Then he'd know what to do… he hoped.
Just one more minute. He glanced at the key again and sighed. Who was he kidding? He'd been inside the closet for at least an hour and there was no longer music playing. He wasn't even sure he heard voices anymore. He took a deep breath and placed the key inside the keyhole. Maybe he'd just forgotten. His hand gave a turn, the keyhole glowed and he was free. He wished everything was as easy as this.
Link was lost. The directions the first guard gave him at the gate had sounded simple enough. Turn left by the fountain, right past the maze garden and straight to the stables. He'd had no problem delivering the horses on time. Not that he didn't have anything better to do a Sunday morning than walking horses into mansions, it was just his job. And yeah, he didn't have anything better to do.
He'd found the stables alright and left two of Mr. Deku's best steeds with some man and then refused to take directions from him. He had to stop being so stubborn.
He didn't know how Mr. Deku managed to keep the business running these days. No one seemed to need horses anymore. Except, of course, rich people. Did they walk around with maps or something?
Link was glad Mr. Deku sent him off to make the delivery this time. If he had to take a trip to the market again, he would definitely punch someone. Why did he hate people so much? Oh right, cause everyone was so weird around him. Not even the old ladies tried to hide their interest on him whenever he walked around. Several of them bumped into him 'accidentally' as he tried to make his way to the vegetables section. One of them had once tried to 'apologize' by passing her hand through his chest… and went too low.
He shrugged the memory off and made a sharp right. Still no idea where he was.
Why were women always like this around him? What was it they found so... Appealing? He figured more of that would come his way if it weren't for the constant death glares he shot everyone. As a result, he came off as an antisocial grumpy. Which somehow they found even more attractive. What was so attractive about a poor orphan who worked at some broke stables? Didn't he smell like horses all the time?
As the years had gone by, the harassment had only worsened. Not that it didn't happen when he was younger. Once, a weird 10 year old had nearly forced him to marry her, and another girl named Saria had actually kissed him. He would have freaked out on both occasions if it weren't for Navi. She'd scared both girls off with her yelling until they finally gave up and left him alone. Saria had secretly crept through his window at the stables that night and gave him the ocarina. She had taught him to play this one song he could barely remember. She said she'd always be with him as long as he kept playing it. Navi found out and he never saw the girl again. He'd kept the ocarina and played some of those melodies that haunted him in his dreams.
He found what seemed to be the backdoor to a garden. Was that the one he passed when he came in? He wasn't sure. 'Don't let them rich folks spot ya', the man had said. If he hadn't been in such a hurry to leave, maybe he would have listened to directions instead of making this self-analysis.
It wasn't that he did not like girls; he just had no idea how to be around them. Navi was the only girl he felt completely comfortable with. That was probably due to the fact that she had always been around. He remembered the day Mr. Deku introduced them, back when they were ten. 'Every kid like you must have a friend like her', he'd said. What he'd meant, he still wasn't sure.
Link made another right and froze instantly.
There, at the other side of the garden, peeking through a window, he saw a girl. She was wearing a high fashioned pink dress and fancy jewelry, which meant he shouldn't be there. Before he could make a run for it, though, she turned around and faced him. Then he knew he was doomed.
