"Oh, how great it feels to escape some stuffy airplane!"

My bud on the right stops for a moment to stretch. He inhales deeply a couple of times.

"I hate ridin' planes," I say to him. "Too many people in one place breathin' the same air."

"Better than takin' that ol' truck you got, Sora," he replies. "If we did, we'd get from Tennessee to New Orleans about as fast as a chicken runnin' through thick mud."

"I know, Riku."

Riku scans the terminal. "Let's go find your cousin. We're wastin' time on this wonderful Tuesday."

We walk together through the airport towards an entrance next to the food court. The people around us are all dressed up in beads and carrying masks, and there are a few businessfolk tucked into their suits that are quickly weaving through the crowd to get to wherever they need to go. Purple, green, and yellow decorations strew the walls, floors, and potted plants.

At the entrance door, I spot a familiar head of spiked-up hair leaning against a pillar. "Rox!"

He turns to me. "Hey, cuz!"

"How ya been?" I ask after we pound fists.

"Been all right. Got caught up in a lotta work to get more munny now that Naminé been livin' with me." He high-fives Riku. "Lookin' good, Riku!"

"I haven't seen you in a minute!" Riku says.

"It's only been two years since I moved outta town to Louisiana. I had to do it to stay steady with my girl. Tennessee to here is too long of a distance."

"You've been with that farmer's daughter ever since that week before the county fair five years ago! Why don't ya get on your knees and have her marry you already?"

"When I can get a ring! All I can afford right now is a ring pop. And maybe some bubble wrap for a dress, but it'll be skimpy 'cause I can only get two or three sheets of it!"

We then hear a loud shout behind us. It came from a tall man with red hair suitable enough to be the mane of a lion.

"What took ya so long in there?" questions Roxas. "Takin' a dump?"

"Gotta do what ya gotta do," he says. He turns to me and ruffles my hair before saying, "It's what happens when your best friend's girl makes a bangin' potato and cheese soup for a fella that's lactose intolerant."

"Why you eatin' that stuff if ya know you can't, Axel?" I ask him. "But it's good to see you!"

"Yeah, it damn sure is good to see you and Riku after so long!"

"Some folks back home thought you were gonna have a dick party with Roxas out here since you moved with him and Naminé," Riku states.

"Well, tell 'em all they missed out! It was a great party."

"Anyways," I interrupt, "let's get a move on. It's Fat Tuesday, and I'm ready to get fat."

We walk out to the parking lot towards Axel's two-seater truck. Riku and I hop in the back, and Axel slides down the rear window so that we can hear the radio from the outside. We pull out, and after passing through the city we end up on a country road that is paralleled by farm fields and tall trees. The rising sun gives a pink glow that stands out in the cloudless, soft blue sky above. Rolls of hay scatter across the farm fields, and I hear a rooster in the distance giving its wake up call.

"It's like a little reminder of home, this place," I say out loud.

"Didn't wanna lose it," Roxas shouts over the radio.

A few minutes pass and we reach a small house. A fence surrounds it and the little areas of yard in the front and back of the house. A tractor is parked outside, and on the porch lays a dog in gold fur. Neighboring the small house is another house, but much bigger. Along with it is a large, expansive farm that stretches about half a mile down the road.

"Who's the neighbor?" asks Riku as we exit the truck. Axel whistles, signaling the dog to come running from the porch to give him a slobbery welcome.

"My boss," answers Roxas. "Been working for him ever since I got here. He liked me enough to give me a small plot of his land so I could build a place. We have dinner together on Sundays, and his wife always bakes us a pie."

"Whaddya do for him?"

"Haul hay, feed the hogs, round up the cows, bring his food out to the market, gather the crops… You know, the works."

"Riku and I still do the same stuff you do at Ansem's farm," I say.

"Y'all still work for him?"

"Yeah, why not? Pay is good."

"I just thought you would've stopped at some point after his granddaughter left five years ago."

Riku looks at me cautiously. The memory of her pops into my mind, but it quickly vanishes. I just smile and shrug. "I need the money, and I definitely needed it for that darn plane ticket."

"You'll find somebody, Sora!" yells Axel. He stops rubbing the dog's belly, which makes the dog whine. "You're too good-lookin' of a fella to not have the women line up behind ya. I mean, look at you! You're tan, fit, and have those piercin' blue eyes to make them ladies lose they breath!"

Riku cringes. "You really did have a dick party down here, didn't you?"

"Nah. I'm just good at noticin' these kinda things."

Riku shakes his head. "Thing is, Sora boy has had women come up and talk to him, but he hasn't given any of 'em a chance."

"You're kiddin'!" Axel slaps his forehead. "C'mon, man."

"I just don't feel the urge to have a lady right now," I say. "I'm not feelin' it at all."

Roxas sighs. "You gotta get over her, cuz."

"Get over who?"

"The lady friend of five years ago."

"She has nothin' to do with this!"

"Liar! She's the reason why you can't pick no one else!"

"That's not true—"

"Oh, quit picking on him. It was his first love."

We turn to the soft voice coming from the porch of the small house, and Roxas immediately smiles.

"Good mornin', sweetheart," he greets. He runs up to her and plants a kiss on her cheek. "I delivered the guests like ya asked me to."

"Whaddya mean YOU?" says Axel. "I'm the one who drove 'em here! I should be the one gettin' all the credit."

"Shuddup, Axel! I'mma get to that sweet tea first!"

"No!"

Naminé giggles as we watch the two race into the house with the dog chasing after them. She turns and gives us a hug.

"How are you two?" she asks. "It sure has been a little while."

"We've been all right, and it sure has," Riku replies. "It's a nice little place you got here."

"Thank you! The farmer and his wife helped us build it."

"I'm gettin' myself some sweet tea. You want some, Sora?"

"I'll follow you in a bit," I say.

Riku takes my bag and goes inside. Through the screen door Naminé and I can hear the commotion over the sweet tea, and the dog begins to bark when we hear a large thump on the floor, probably from someone tackling someone.

"Even though they look like grownups on the outside, they still have the heart and mind of a little boy on the inside," says Naminé. "Your cousin is probably the worst of the two. He was sitting at the table yesterday pretending that the salt shaker was some sort of superhero."

A laugh a little. "Well, it's good to know he hasn't changed."

A small truck drives by. The driver honks, and Naminé returns with a wave and a 'Good morning' greeting.

"I haven't seen my sister since she left papa Ansem's five years ago," she says. "I also haven't heard from her. I don't know where she is."

"It's okay, Naminé."

"She cared about you so much, and all she did every day was talk about you when she was in Tennessee. You were her first love, too."

"Then why didn't she return any of my letters or phone calls?"

She sighs. "I don't know. I wish I knew, but I know our parents would not have allowed her to talk to me. You already know about all that."

"Yeah, I know."

"How about we go inside for now and get something to drink? I can make some more sweet tea since it's probably all gone by now. That will get your head all cleared up for today." She pokes my nose and smiles. "We have some celebrating to do. It's Mardi Gras, and you're about to party in New Orleans!"

...

We hang around and catch up with each other at Roxas and Naminé's house until eleven when we decide to go into the city to see some parades, shows, parties, and whatever else that is going to be there. Naminé places purple, green, and yellow beads on all of us, and we all dress in white shirts and jeans.

When we enter the city, the atmosphere quickly changes. All the streets are one big party, and people are found everywhere in different forms: in masks, in different colors, in strange-looking costumes, and such. Back in my part of Tennessee, Mardi Gras is celebrated by drinking and eating lots of food, and sometimes we wear the beads. Here in New Orleans, though, everyone went all out. To me, it seems like a very festive summer version of Halloween.

We stop at a shop to get a few packs of cheap beer to walk around with and sip on. As we walk down the streets, the most common foods we see are breads, cakes, and even pancakes. We sample several different kinds of breads and cakes, and Riku and I try some chicken with seasoning that gives a Louisiana kick. We all then complain about how we're gonna have to work our butts off to get rid of all this food we're eating and going to eat.

Roxas, Naminé, and Axel find a group of their farming friends on the street, so they stop and talk with them. Riku spots a pretty young lady standing by herself at one of the shops, so he makes his way over to her to try a new way he made up of wooing a lady. Now that I'm by myself, I decide to go for some entertainment. I walk a block down the street and end up watching a parade. Many people are coming and going, stopping here and there to point at a float then turn away.

Then, I hear a voice. A voice from the past.

My heart begins to flutter. I tune out the people around me and focus on that one voice to make sure that what I'm hearing is true, that I'm not imagining it.

And it's her. It's her voice, and her voice is that same voice that made my knees weak five years ago.

I turn around towards the voice and, sure enough, there she is. Right there, standing a few rows back from me on the street, is the girl that is about a head shorter than me and has a head full of ruby red hair that goes a little past her shoulders.

She's talking to someone next to her, and all I can do is check her out. From where I stand, I can see that her body became more fit. Her tank top hugs her curvy waist, and her cut-off jean shorts show off her athletic legs.

Her violet eyes then catch my blue ones, and we just stare. The feelings I thought I had suppressed begin to leak out of my heart, and the memory of her takes over my mind.

"Kairi."

-The inspiration for this story came directly from Tim McGraw's song "Something Like That," which some people refer to as "BBQ Stain." It's a super cute country tune, and it makes me wish my life was a Tim McGraw song. Matter of fact, all his songs make me feel that way.
-I hope you all enjoyed this little intro. I'm going to have fun with this story.
-If any of you are curious about "Falling Into Average," please see my profile page. There's a brief explanation to sum it up.

P.S. This story is going to have a mix of "Something Like That" by Tim McGraw, "Farmer's Daughter" by Rodney Atkins, and very, very, very, very, very little of The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks in it.