I wrote this ages ago but didn't get around to publishing it until now. Do you know of that short film called 'Paperman'? Well, the first time I saw it one of the first things I thought after the sheer wonderment and awe wore off was "this would be so cute if it was Zexiri". That's how sad I am. I'm so invested in a crack!OTP that when I see beautiful, perfect romantic stuff, that's what I think about. So I did it. I made a Zexiri version of 'Paperman'.
It's also set in a crazy AU that takes place after a version of BBS where everything went right. I don't know how, I didn't think that bit through, but in this AU everything is cool, Xehanort and Vanitas get their butts kicked and Terra, Aqua and Ven go off and live their lives, able to put it all behind them. Consequently, Kingdom Hearts never happened. But it's an AU that allows me to write this fanfic.
Please review! It would make me happy :)
Paper Planes and Petals
In a different time and a different place, perhaps things hadn't gone so wrong. Radiant Garden remained a peaceful and beautiful place after a brief 'War of Darkness' ten years ago. Hearts that had once been lost never were and children who had once been scatter across the universe were never lost.
A Princess of Heart went about her life as if the Destiny Island had never existed. She woke up on a school day and opened her window to relish the sweet morning air. The doves sitting on her window box fluttered away. She smiled, watching them fly over the rooftops of her home town. There was no place she'd rather be.
She readied herself for school. Sitting by her window as she brushed her hair, she noticed that the flowers in the window box were coming into bloom. One pink flower had already made it to full bloom. Having such beauty around her never failed to lift her spirits. She picked the first full flower and admired it. It was her favourite shade of pink and the petals were all perfect, no sign of wilting. She looked at it in the mirror and tucked it behind her ear. It was so pretty but between her red hair, green blazer, and navy blue skirt, the pink looked out of place. She opened a draw beneath the mirror. She wasn't usually one for make-up but this seemed like the perfect time to try that lipstick her friend gave her for her birthday.
Ienzo checked his watch as he made his way up the steps to the train platform. He was a bit early, to his pleasure. However, he wasn't thrilled about using the public transport system. Even had insisted that today's research and experiments had to be conducted at the university in order to use equipment that wasn't available at the castle. Ienzo wondered why they couldn't just arrange to borrow it and furthermore why they had left him behind to gather the paperwork they would need, guaranteeing that he would have to take a train.
He checked that he had all of the data recording sheets Even had requested. Suddenly a strong gust blew them out of his grasp. He managed to clamp down on most of them but one got away. It danced out of his reach and flew right into someone's face. Ienzo's eyes widened and he quickly peeled the page off their face, stammering an apology embarrassedly.
The person was a schoolgirl, judging by the uniform. His stuttering and mumbling trailed off as she opened her eyes. Those eyes were such a beautiful shade of blue and they complimented her wine red hair. The pretty pink flower in her hair had slipped out of place in the accident. It was paired perfectly with her pink lipstick.
She didn't seem to have heard his apology because all she did was look down at his data recording sheet and snicker. Ienzo's brow furrowed as the train pulled in. He lifted the page to look and saw that the lipstick had left a kiss-mark by mistake. He chuckled nervously and turned to smile at the girl but she was already boarding the train. The doors slid shut and she took a seat, opening a book for the ride. She looked up as the train pulled away and gave him a smile. He returned it. He wasn't sure what it was but that girl had something absolutely magical about her.
With a start he also realised that he was meant to catch that train. He cursed. Now he was going to be late.
Even was not the least bit pleased when Ienzo finally showed up. The other apprentices had already gotten started so Even put him at a desk outside the glass-walled sterile part of the lab. There was a whole row of desks right by the wall and from his desk he could even look out the window. He wryly thanked the universe for that as he tossed his labcoat over the back of his chair and slumped in his seat. Even dumped a stack of data analysis sheets in front of him. He insisted that it was extremely important to start analysis right away and then left Ienzo to his devices. The silverette teen sighed and rubbed his face, dreading the tediousness of his work for the day.
Most of the day was spent taking down numbers and plugging them into calculations. Despite having a window seat, they were several floors up and the only thing to look at was the building across the street or the road below. At some point in the afternoon, Ienzo glanced out the window to give his eyes a small break from the mathematics. He blinked and did a double-take.
Across the street, Kairi put her things down on the desk she was claiming for study period, right by the window. Her best friend – a dark-skinned girl with braided hair – laughed and commented on her lipstick, mentioning that she never thought she'd ever see her tomboyish friend wear it. Kairi argued that she wasn't that tomboyish as she hung her blazer over the back of her chair and rolled up her sleeves. It was a bit warm and stuffy in the study hall, so she opened the window to let some breeze in.
Ienzo could hardly believe his eyes. He forgot about the scientific calculations he was supposed to be doing and opened his window too. He thought about yelling to her but looked down at the street and the classroom beyond the window. He also glanced back at the experiment going on behind him. He didn't want to disturb anyone or get anybody's attention other than hers. So he tried waving to her, first with one arm and then with both but, no matter how energetic his movements got, she simply wasn't looking. She was too engrossed with her own books and conversations.
From behind, he heard Even clear his throat. Ienzo turned around to see the older scientist glaring at him with an expression that was a mixture of disappointment and disapproval. He dropped another stack of data analysis sheets on the desk and a clipboard with messily scribbled notes and raw data. Ienzo slumped into his seat, sinking sheepishly. Even peered out the window but couldn't see anything even remotely exciting. He shut the window and gathered up the completed sheets, shooting Ienzo a look that warned him to do his work. The teenager looked at the paper in front of him dismally. He nudged the kiss-marked sheet closer and stared at it longingly. That gaze turned to the window across the street. If only there was a way to fly a message to her.
Epiphany struck. Ienzo took an analysis sheet off the stack and began to fold, making sure all of the edges were crisp. He opened the window and took aim at the one across the street carefully before setting his paper plane free.
The first barely made it a metre before it dropped out of the sky. Ienzo willed himself to stay determined and reached for another sheet. The second plane glided smoothly over the divide but veered to the side and crashed into the wall. The third plane dive-bombed into the road below after only getting halfway across. The fourth sailed downward and into another open window, landing on the desk of a boy who was bored and pretending to listen to his literature teacher. He gawked at the plane in wonder and looked up smiling to see where it came from. Ienzo shook his head and waved his hands no. The boy frowned and chucked the plane out the window, turning back to his lesson with a huff. The fifth plane crashed below the window. The eighth crashed above. The twelfth plane was knocked out of the sky by a couple of passing doves, making Ienzo shrug in disbelief. The eighteenth plane was blown away by the wind. The twenty-sixth plane looked set to land on her shoulder but she leaned forward to look at her friend's book and it glided past, landing in a waste-paper basket. Many more planes also met a grizzly fate on the wall or on the road.
Ienzo reached for another sheet and touched wood. He turned to the desk. All of the analysis sheets had been used up. As he looked around for more paper he caught the other apprentices staring at him. Even grumbled something about going to print more sheets. Being disruptive caused guilt to settle in his gut but when he looked back at the girl's window desperation flared. She was tying her blazer around her waist and was about to begin packing away her pencils. With nothing left to lose, he folded up the last piece of paper he had – the one with the kiss-mark. He took a deep breath and poised to make this the best paper plane launch he had ever made in his life. He leaned out the window, hoping that this would be the one to snatch her attention before she was gone. A sudden gust once again sealed his fate that day by knocking the plane out of his fingers. He fumbled to catch it but it dropped hopelessly.
A bell echoed in the space between the school and the university. The school day was over. Ienzo plonked into his seat, staring into space dumbly. Their work at the university was hardly over but she was leaving school already. He didn't know if he would even be back tomorrow or if she would be in that class. He stole a glance at his fellow apprentices. They could analyse data tomorrow. Having made up his mind, Ienzo threw on his lab coat and ran from the room, not even mindful of the chair clattering behind him. He bumped into Even on the way out, knocking the stack of freshly printed analysis sheets out of his arms but he kept going, ignoring anything Even had to say.
He burst out the doors on the ground floor and searched up and down the street for her. There was no sign of her red hair or her pink flower. In fact, the school building didn't even have an entrance on this street. His shoulders sagged and he hung his head. There at his feet was the kiss-marked paper plane. He picked it up and felt its weight. It was a good plane and it might have worked if not for the damn wind. It was no use to him now, anyway. With a miserable sign he rationalised that it would be better to just forget about her and launched the plane into the air. It caught an updraft and sailed on upwards into the sky.
After all of that disappointment he didn't even feel like going back to his calculations. He turned on his heel and started to wander aimlessly.
Meanwhile, his paper plane sailed on, guided by the magic it had been bestowed with by the morning's accidental kiss. It took the wind as its own, soaring purposefully above Radiant Garden. Each paper plane it passed was recruited for its mission regardless of colour, size, or type. All of the failed attempts, the coloured planes from the kindergarten, the planes that children were flying across the river for fun (even the ones that were already soaked), the plane that Lea had drawn flames on the wings of, which startled him and Isa by suddenly flying in the opposite direction and joining a massive flock of paper planes. Even the giant plane that a bored art student had made out of A0 paper that was never expected to fly made it up. Every paper plane in the town took to the sky.
Onlookers gaped in astonishment. However, Ienzo was in no mood to be entertained by a flock of flying paper planes. He dragged his feet into narrower streets. Suddenly a paper plane hit him in the face. He looked down. It was the kiss-marked plane. He picked it up and let it fly again. His eyes widened when it arced and flew straight back to his feet. He picked it up again and examined it closely, wracking his brain for a possible explanation for that. This style of paper plane only had aerodynamic properties when it flew in a straight line.
Three more paper planes crashed into him. He looked at them: two colourful, childish planes and one folded data analysis sheet. His eyebrows furrowed as he kept walking, holding onto his kiss-marked plane. To his alarm, the kiss-marked plane flew out of his and of its own will. The other planes also leaped off the ground and they all dived at him, this time physically pushing him back. He tried to brush them away but more of them flew down. Despite being just paper they managed to manhandle him back the way he came but he put up a resistance. At least until the A0 plane swooped down and swept him off his feet. The planes pushed and Ienzo tumbled through the streets. He tried to grab curbs, mailboxes, and lampposts to stop them dragging him away. The kiss-marked plane flew off, knowing it would take forever to push Ienzo in the right direction. They needed to meet him halfway. It zoomed through the town like a rocket to find the right person and when it did it slowed to a steady glide.
Kairi had parted ways with her friend half an hour ago. Now she was crouched next to one of the gorgeous flower beds that the squares in Radiant Garden had, picking flowers for her grandmother. It was something of a ritual. She brought a bouquet to her grandmother every week, always hand-picked.
A paper plane glided over her shoulder and wedged its nose in amongst the leaves and flowers. Kairi paused and scrutinised it. On its wing was a mark in her favourite shade of pink – a kiss-mark. Her mind briefly flashed back to the incident on the train platform. She shook her head and chuckled. That was too big of a coincidence. She reached for it but it was blown away by a very convenient breeze. It looped around her playfully, dipping and ducking out of her reach. It flew away, seemingly with a mind of its own. Kairi could recognise magic when she saw it and smirked. Not one to turn down a challenge, she chased after it.
The paper plane always stayed within her range but slightly out of reach. She chased it down alleys and up staircases, over bridges and through tunnels, even all through the marketplace. It sailed the wind into one of Radiant Garden's greenest parks. The plane twirled around trees and looped around lamps, allowing Kairi to follow with the promise that she would catch it.
Finally, at a bench under a tree clock right in front of a pond with a fountain, Kairi snatched the paper plane out of the air. She grinned triumphantly as she looked over her prize. The more she chased the more she was convinced that it was that boy's paper. Perhaps he had tried to send it to her.
The breeze gently rushed against her back, blowing a flurry of paper planes of all shapes, colours, and sizes past her. She turned around. Standing only a few paces behind her, covered in paper planes and looking dumbstruck, was the boy from the platform.
Ienzo's breath hitched. There she was, right in front of him. The paper planes had led him to her. He brushed them off and chuckled sheepishly. She smiled and held the kiss-marked paper plane to him.
"Is this yours?" she asked with a voice so full of magic that it tinkled like tiny bells.
Ienzo fumbled for words. When all he managed to say after a minute of trying was incoherent stutters, he simply accepted the plane. "Th-thank-you. You, um, left this on the train platform."
He pointed to the kiss-mark. In the seconds following his heart raced with doubt. Was that dumb? Did he sound like a dork? She was going to be unimpressed, he knew it.
Kairi laughed. "Yeah, I just remembered."
Ienzo grinned and a knot in his chest unwound. "Well, er," he stammered, looking into her face, grabbing of any form of conversation. "That flower – the one in your hair – it's very pretty. It matches your beauty—I mean your lipstick."
He tensed up. Surely he sounded like a weirdo just then. Instead of laughing at him and walking away like he expected, Kairi turned her head to the side so he could see the flower better.
"Which do you like more?"
Oh dear. Ienzo's thoughts raced with different interpretations of the question and he floundered. "I… I like your lips—I mean your flower. Wait! Back up, um, I meant to say lipstick unless you mean what I briefly mentioned about beauty, I…" he fidgeted with his plane and inhaled deeply. "I, uh… I like all of it."
Kairi's smile never left her face as she removed the flower from behind her ear and presented it to him. "My name's Kairi."
"I'm Ienzo," he replied, accepting the gift.
"So, Ienzo, do you want to go somewhere this afternoon? Or maybe just talk?"
"Yeah, just talking is fine," he said, taking a big, easy breath. "You won't believe what happened to me today."
"Oh yeah?" she asked, sitting on the bench and patting the space beside her. She picked up a discarded paper plane as Ienzo sat down. "I've got a pretty crazy story for you too."