Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or locations used in this story. All characters and locations used in this story are property of Disney® and Squaresoft®.
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Sora sat alone on the beach, letting the tide lap around his dark shorts and yellow boots. The brilliant red sunset tainted the star-shaped paopu fruit he held in his hands. Slowly, he spun the fruit in his fingers, staring directly at it, but not noticing it, buried deep in thought.
His mind wandered, but all his thoughts focused on one central figure in his life: one of his best friends. Kairi.
He had known the now fourteen-year-old girl since they were both six. It was eight years ago— had it really been that long?— when Kairi had first come to the islands, to live with the mayor. He remembered that day well; his life changed forever when the young girl walked into it.
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"Now let me get this straight: you want to leave a young lady here, to stay with us indefinitely?" Mayor Tomas asked the strange man.
"That's right. I can't tell you any more, but there's trouble in our home. She's not safe where we come from."
The man stood a full head taller than the mayor, who was not by any means a short man. The stranger wore dark pants, and boots that reached mid-calf. His waistline was criss-crossed with many belts, of varying width and color. A tight white shirt was stretched across his muscular chest, and hanging loosely over his back was a dark-colored vest, branded with a red insignia on the back, depicting a pair of wings. His brown hair cascaded all the way down to his shoulder blades, and wispy locks fell across his forehead into his sharp, chiseled face.
What really made the mayor uncomfortable, though, was the fearsome blade mounted low on his back.
Mayor Tomas pressed his fingers together and held his hands in a prayerful-looking gesture in front of his face.
"And where, exactly, is it that you come from?"
The man left that question unanswered.
After a moment's uncomfortable silence, the mayor dropped his hands to his sides, his right hand instinctively resting on his desk, where his long fingers drummed the hard wood.
"Well," said Mayor Tomas. "I would hate to think of any young lady placed in jeopardy, especially when I had a full chance to prevent it… perhaps I could meet her for myself?"
The man nodded yes, once.
"I suppose that would be in order." The man said. He raised his voice so as to be heard outside the closed doors of the mayor's office. "Come in please, Kairi."
One of the doors swung open tentatively, and a young girl timidly stepped into the office.
Kairi was small, even for her age. Short brown locks curled down into her face, her haircut ending just below the base of her skull. She was dressed in a simple white shirt, and orchid-colored skirt. Shoes of the same colors were slipped loosely onto her feet. Around her neck she wore a wide black choker necklace, and tightened onto her wrists were various gold bracelets.
She shuffled shyly up to the mayor, who was thrilled with the cute little girl. Mayor Tomas bent to his knees to be level with her and offered his hand. She shook it slowly.
Her guardian stepped forward and spoke up, "Kairi, this is Mayor Tomas. You're going to be staying with him for awhile."
The mayor, still holding her hand, brought it up to his lips and playfully kissed the back of her palm. Kairi giggled, and after recovering her hand, tucked them both behind her back and shifted her weight over to her right foot.
The mayor couldn't help but chuckle at the cute girl. He gently shooed her from the room, telling her as she went, "Mrs. Swann will be waiting for you outside. She'll show you to your new room."
As she slipped out of the room, he added, "It was nice meeting you Kairi!"
She was too far out for her soft reply to be heard.
Mayor Tomas rose to face the man, who had quietly watched the proceedings from the corner of the study. The mayor smiled.
"Alright sir. We'll be delighted to have her here. There are several other children on the island, I'm sure they'll get along splendidly."
The man nodded and turned to leave. The mayor, however, had one last question.
"I don't think I ever caught your name sir?"
The man looked back over his shoulder and said in his gruff voice: "Leon. The name is Leon."
Leon silently left the study. As he went, an unnoticed pair of blue eyes slipped out of the window, where they had been quietly watching the proceedings.
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Sora sat in the waves for a few more minutes before he realized there was someone else nearby. He turned to see the familiar loose shoes and purple skirt that belonged to the object of his thoughts. He quickly dropped the paopu fruit into the tide and stood to face Kairi.
The girl cocked her head curiously. "Whatcha doing?" she inquired.
Sora tried to speak, but stumbled over his words.
"I… uh… was watching the… um…" Eventually the boy recovered his shock. "I was just… thinking."
He looked hard at the ground, trying to hide his blush. In the waning sunset, Kairi failed to notice his color. She sunk low so she could look up into his face. That was one of her infuriating traits.
"Were you daydreaming again?"
Sora stuttered, but Kairi didn't notice, she was giggling at him.
"You're so lazy!"
For some reason he didn't know, Sora started laughing too. The pair stood on the beach, sharing a joke no one else could understand.
Farther off, his white hair blowing in the twilight breeze, another young boy stood at the top of a waving palm tree, watching the two friends. Deep in his eyes, a dark fire smoldered.
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Well, that's the story, folks! Hope you enjoyed! I'd appreciate any reviews.