A/N: I get a lot of random ideas. The fact that I keep writing them out is simply insane. 8D
[ Naminé X Sora ]
[ .Gold Searching. ]
[ "Sometimes, the best treasures are the ones you discover in ordinary objects." ]
A small, seven-year-old brunet boy wades into the shallow waters of the island shore. He bends over slowly, carefully, so not to have his cast shadow scare any ocean life.
He gently stirs the sand with his fingers, feeling the wet, floating grains slip over the ridges of his skin. He digs and digs, when finally, he comes across a little crab.
Grinning to himself, the boy plucks the miniature critter from its home in the sand and comes rushing back to the dry sand. "Naminé! Naminé, I found one!"
The young girl he's calling to gives a cheerful, closed-lipped smile. "Thank you, Sora," she murmurs, and just as the boy sits in front of her and holds out his hands, she opens her sketchbook.
She quickly adds the crab – much better details and more realistic now that she has a reference source – to the scene of her and Sora as mer-people swimming underwater.
The brunet sets the crab down and watches it scuttle back to the sea. "Now all you need is some starfish and a jellyfish or two! – Oh, and maybe even a normal fish to go with the rest!"
The tiny blonde artist nods her head. "Yeah." She smiles as sets the book aside, her pencil laying casually on top. "Could you find me one?"
"I can sure try!" Sora says with a rub under his nose. "But if I can't find a starfish, you can just use a paopu fruit, right? I mean, those are stars, too, so it could work. Right?"
"Sea stars are bumpier," Naminé says with a wrinkle of her button nose. "And I don't know in what way, 'xactly, so I really need to see a real sea star. Okay?"
"Okay!" Sora agrees, nodding twice. "I understand." And soon he's off again, wading into the water and peering into it. Not after long, he comes across a semi-circle rock with a perfect star clinging to its surface. He grins again and gently plucks the creature from its home, just like last time. "Got one!"
"Bring it here," Naminé giggles, and as soon as Sora arrives by her side, she seems more excited. "Can I hold it this time?" she asks with watery indigo eyes.
Sora can't resist. He laughs. "Course you can, Nami-chan. That's what it's here for." And he slides it onto her hands, the starfish's little tube feet suctioning and unsuctioning to the skin of her pale palm.
Naminé squeals softly, but doesn't drop the enchiridion. Instead, she smiles and brings it closer to her face to inspect it better with her eyes. Cautiously, she brings the center of its back, the least prickly part of it aside from its underbelly, to her cheek. Without much hesitation, the young blonde girl brushes the animal's rough skin against her soft skin. It feels odd, but not unpleasant. She carefully sets the little thing down near her knee before picking up her sketchbook again. This time, the sea stars in her drawing look textured and three-dimensional while they cling to the walls of coral on the edges of the drawing.
"Is it almost done?" Sora questions as he peers over her shoulder. He takes the starfish into his hand as he stands up.
"Almost. All I need is a jellyfish, but I don't want you to get stung," she says quietly. Naminé stands up and tuckers her art book under her arm. "Let's walk around the sore until we find a dead one to look at," she says.
"Sure thing," Sora smiles as he drops the starfish back onto its rock. He races back to the girl's side and takes her hand in his. They walk along together, hand in hand, searching for more gold treasures buried in the sea and sand.
They don't find a jellyfish, so Naminé draws weird little palm-trees-turned-sea-critter instead. It ends up blending in well with the enchantment of the drawing, and as Sora admires the sketch while Naminé pours color onto it in oil pastel, the girl leans over and gives the boy a brief kiss on the cheek.
The seven-year-old boy doesn't know how to react. He jerks back in surprise, his face tinting pink. "Wh-what was that for?"
"It was a thank-you," Naminé says sweetly, her eyes avoiding his. She continues coloring.
Sora rubs his cheek. "Well… don't. You've got cooties, like Kairi. Riku told me so."
Naminé giggles. "Yeah, I do. But don't worry; cooties are only ak-tih-vated if we grow apart."
"Really?"
"Yup," Naminé nods. "Kairi told me so."
"Well then," Sora says confidently, "We better never part, then, huh?"