A birthday story for one of my best friends, antaurilover685, who owns Kairi. Here you go, Amiga! Happy Birthday! :)
Skylanders belongs to Activision. I only own Rachel and Crystal.
Bound By Love's Gentle Promise
"Okay, so when Kairi arrives, you want me and Crystal to keep her company for a bit until you have everything set up?" Rachel asked Thumpback.
"Yes," he said. "My gifts to her are nearly ready and...," he leaned close and whispered something in the Tech Portal Master's ear. The girl gasped in surprise after listening to what he said.
"Are you serious?" She asked.
He nodded. "Because I love Kairi so much," he said. "She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen and while she's a fighter, I love everything about her. She's kind, helpful, beautiful, and...she's like an angel to me."
Rachel smiled. "You're really going to knock her socks off with your gifts then," she said. "And...something tells me she'll be thrilled beyond words."
Thumpback smiled and then looked nervous. "You don't think it's too forward, do you?" He asked.
"Thumpback, you've known Kairi and been her boyfriend for almost five years now," the Tech Portal Master said. "You've been patient with her, have been loyal to her, and have never, ever, let her down. I think the timing is perfect."
He smiled again. "Okay," he said and took a deep breath. "I'll send Hood Sickle when I'm ready for Kairi to come."
"Okay, good luck, big guy."
As the large whale disappeared in the water, Rachel smiled and headed for the Academy. "Kairi's really going to be surprised when she meets up with her man later," she said to herself, smiling again as she made it to the Academy and saw Crystal running with Fiesta and Spellslamzer hot on her heels.
"Big sis! Save me!" Crystal cried out, dashing behind Rachel, who laughed and put up a telekinetic shield, making the mariachi skeleton and giant Spell Punk stop.
"Give us the little one, Tech Portal Master," Spellslamzer said, his voice taking a playful tone. "And Fiesta and I might spare you."
"Oh, really?" She asked, her grin showing she was amused as she played along. "And what did my little sister do to have you two chasing her?"
"She surprised both of us by teleporting behind us and making us jump when she let out a yell," Fiesta said.
"Oh?" Rachel asked, her grin growing larger. "Sounds like you two weren't paying attention."
"That's it. You're mine, Rachel," Spellslamzer said, his voice taking a slightly deeper tone, but still having that playful note in it as he used his magic to gently force the older girl to drop the telekinetic shield.
Surprised, she had no time to reinforce the shield or call up another one, though she wasn't hurt as the giant Spell Punk had purposely been gentle as he didn't want to hurt her or his Portal Master. Seconds later, he pounced on the Tech Portal Master while Fiesta pounced on the Life Portal Master and the sisters squealed in surprise as the two tickled them to pieces.
Kairi had had a good day at work for once and teleported to Skylands to spend her birthday with her boyfriend when she heard familiar laughter and turned to find Rachel and Crystal laying on the ground while Fiesta and Spellslamzer, who had switched 'victims', were tickling them. Fiesta got Rachel's shoulder blades, which were very sensitive, making her laugh her hardest as she tried to gently shake him off her back.
Crystal was in stitches as Spellslamzer blew raspberries into her stomach and playfully munched on her stomach. "Little Portal Masters who surprise me get tickled to pieces by me," he said playfully, blowing a large raspberry right onto the little girl's belly button, making her squeal and squirm helplessly as gentle, playful munches followed the raspberries the Spell Punk blew into Crystal's stomach until he finally let her up, seeing she was tired. Fiesta did the same for Rachel, who collapsed in the grass and was breathing hard to catch her breath.
Smiling, Kairi stretched out her hands and softly began vocalizing as her hands glowed blue and her healing power reached out to the two sisters, who felt the healing power and sat up, giving her grateful smiles. "Hey, Kairi, thanks," Rachel said.
"Thank you, Kairi," Crystal said.
"No problem, guys," she said. "Got to admit though, that was cute seeing a normally aloof Spell Punk showing he's got a softer side for his Portal Master and her sister."
Spellslamzer suddenly appeared behind her. "Careful, Water Portal Master," he said playfully, fingers wiggling gently up her back and to her shoulders. "I can make you squeal with laughter as my Portal Master does."
Giggling, she playfully batted his hands away and he ruffled her hair, giving the impression he was smiling as Fiesta came up to her. "Happy birthday, Amiga," he said.
"Thank you, Fiesta," she said, hugging him.
"That's right," Rachel said. "It's your birthday today."
"Yes, and I had a good day at work for a change," Kairi said. "Hey, have you guys seen Thumpback?"
"I saw him earlier, but I haven't seen him for a bit," the older girl admitted, which was the truth.
"Oh," the Water Portal Master said softly.
"Don't worry, Kairi," Spellslamzer said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's probably on a mission and thinking about you."
"No doubt," Fiesta said. "A man in love has a hard time not thinking about the woman he loves because he loves her too much to stop thinking about her."
"How poetic and true," Rachel said with a smile.
Crystal giggled as Spellslamzer picked her up. "Maybe he's making a present for you for your birthday, Kairi," she said.
"Do you think so?" Kairi asked.
"He could be," the tall Spell Punk said.
"Guess we'll have to wait and see," said Fiesta. "In the meantime, let's head over to the Academy."
Arriving at the Academy, they were greeted by Dr. Krankcase, who smiled at them. "Ah, I'm glad you three girls are here," he said.
"What's up, Krank?" Rachel asked, calling the doctor by his nickname.
"Well, I made these for you," he said, pulling out a covered sheet. "I was thinking about how drained you get when using your Skyelementals and came up with something to help you have some backup power should you get too exhausted. I've already given the male Portal Masters theirs and all the girls except for you three."
He pulled away to sheet to reveal wrist guards that were colored gold, blue, and green. "These wrist guards hold excess power safely and will appear with your Skyelementals underneath your gauntlets and should you get badly injured or exhausted, you can tap your gauntlets together and the wrist guards will activate and renew your strength for a short while, about an hour at most."
The girls accepted the gift. "Thank you, Dr. Krankcase," Kairi said, giving him a chaste kiss on the cheek, making him blush a little. He turned redder when Crystal also gave him a thank-you kiss on the cheek and Rachel did the same.
"It's a very thoughtful gift, Krank. Thank you," the older girl said as the three girls put on the wrist guards, which immediately joined their Skyelemental armor and vanished for when they would need them. "They'll be an excellent backup plan."
Thanking him again, the three Portal Masters, Fiesta, and Spellslamzer headed for the Game Room, finding Splat there and she wished Kairi a happy birthday and gave her a necklace that had a small paint palate with a paintbrush and paints for a pendant. "Mags helped me make that for you," she said.
"Thank you, Splat," Kairi said, hugging her Supercharger friend.
The door then opened and Hood Sickle came in, coming up behind an unsuspecting Rachel and wrapping his arms around her, making her gasp in surprise before she looked over her shoulder to see him and she laughed in amusement. "Hey, Hood," she said with a smile, returning the hug.
Hood smiled and turned his head so that his mouth was next to her ear. "Thumpback's ready for Kairi," he whispered.
"Okay," she whispered back and turned to Kairi. "Hey, Kairi," she said aloud. "Want to go find Thumpback? Hood Sickle said he just saw him returning from the west."
Kairi blinked. "I wonder what mission he was on?" She said. "Kaos has been quiet, thankfully."
"He and Cassandra are still under the four-month truce after that little creep released that horrid creature that captured you all," Spellslamzer said, shuddering.
They slightly shuddered too, remembering that horrible time. "Well, good," Rachel said. "Which means he won't spoil Kairi's birthday."
"I'd give him a paint lashing again like I did when I first met Kairi," Splat said, making them laugh as they remembered how she had sent the little creep packing after he had tried to ruin Kairi's birthday a couple years ago.
Rachel motioned for Kairi to follow her and the Water Portal Master did, heading outside and Rachel turned and gave the others a thumbs up, which they returned and she then turned and caught up to Kairi as they began searching for Thumpback, spotting him near the ocean not far from the Academy. "There he is," the Tech Portal Master said with a smile.
Kairi gasped. "Thumpy!" she cried out happily, running up to the large whale.
"Kairi!" He cried out happily, kneeling down and holding his arms open to her, scooping her up into his arms as she glomped him. "My beautiful mermaid, you're here."
She smiled and nodded. "The others said you just got back from a mission," she said. "How did it go?"
"It went well," he said. "And now that you're here, I've got something to show you."
"Oh?" She asked.
He smiled. "Can you transform into your mermaid form?" He asked, giving her a loving smile.
Giggling, she did so and he stepped into the water with her before pulling out a bandana and looking at her. "Kairi, do you trust me?" He asked.
"Yes," she said without hesitation. "I trust you, Thumpy."
He smiled and with the upmost gentleness, he tied the blindfold snugly, but not too snug, around her eyes. "What's this for?" She asked, curious.
"You'll see," he said. "Just hold onto me and trust me."
"I always trust you, my handsome whale," she said honestly.
Thumpback looked up at Rachel, looking slightly nervous, but saw the older girl smile and give him an encouraging nod. "Go on," she mouthed to him encouragingly.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at Kairi. "We're going to be underwater, my mermaid," he said.
"Okay," she said, her curiosity growing.
They were soon underwater and Thumpback swam towards a city that was underwater with Kairi in his arms. She held onto him trustingly as he swam for a bit before stopping in front of a structure that made him smile and he gently touched his girlfriend's shoulder. "Okay, I'm going to remove the blindfold," he said.
She nodded and he did so, hearing her gasp as she opened her eyes. In front of them was a magnificent castle that was varying shades of blue and had gems all around it. "Oh, it's beautiful!" Kairi gasped out.
"Want to see the inside of it?" Thumpback asked with a smile.
"We can go in?" She asked in surprise. "Is it...a hotel?"
"Better than that," he said as he guided her towards it, lightly knocking on something invisible and it opened. "An invisible dome," he explained. "It keeps this place safe from attacks."
Kairi was wide-eyed as they swam toward the castle and she saw it was sitting on some strong coral as they swam under it and entered a door from underneath, surfacing in a pool, to her surprise. "Wow," she breathed in surprise.
He chuckled and hopped out of the pool, helping her out too as her tail became her legs again and he gestured for her to go ahead. She looked around, awed by the magnificent rooms. "It's amazing," she said. "Thumpy, what is this place?"
"A very special place, my mermaid," he said before gesturing her to follow him and she did and he opened the door to a magnificent room that had the largest bed the girl had ever seen and it look like...like it had been tailored to her likes. She then noticed a gift on the bed and went over to the bed, seeing her name on the gift and she opened it, finding a beautiful scallop shell inside and what was the best thing was that it was intact. As she looked at it, Thumpback gently reached over and carefully lifted the top shell up, revealing a small box inside.
"What's that?" Kairi asked, curious as to what her boyfriend was up to.
Thumpback smiled and got down on one knee before taking the box and handing it to her. "Open it," he said softly.
She did and gasped at seeing a beautiful gold ring with a ocean-blue diamond for a stone. "Oh, my," she breathed. "I love it."
Feeling him take her hand, she looked at him and he smiled. "Kairi, Water Portal Master and my lovely mermaid, will you do me the honor of being my love, my mermaid, forever?" He asked her.
Her mouth dropped open in shock that he proposed to her and he smiled. "This castle is yours, Kairi," he continued. "I had it built for you because I love you more than words can say."
She looked up at him, tears gathering in her eyes as she took out the ring and placed it on her left ring finger before looking up at the whale that had not only been her partner, but her patient, loving boyfriend too. "Oh, Thumpback," she said with a smile.
"Yes, my mermaid?" He asked, his heart pounding as he hoped she'd accept his proposal.
She smiled again. "Yes," she whispered before her voice rose in excitement. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" She exclaimed, glomping him and knocking him to the floor as she kissed him soundly. Chuckling, he stood up, picking her up in the process, and laid her on the bed, kissing her deeply as she groaned in pleasure before they parted for air and he lay down beside her, an arm wrapped lovingly around her.
"Do you really like it?" He asked.
"Yes," she said. "I love this place. It'll be perfect for us and...for our future, whatever it holds."
He smiled. "Happy birthday, my jewel of the sea," he said.
She smiled. "I love you, handsome. All the way to the horizon," she said.
"I love you too," he said with a smile. "All the way to the horizon."
They kissed again.
A few hours later, they surfaced by the Academy and found Rachel and Crystal swimming nearby with Spitfire and Fiesta. Rachel waved to them as they arrived and noticed something about her friend. "Kairi, you're glowing," she said with a smile. "Did Thumpback give you a birthday to remember?"
She nodded and held up her left hand to show the older girl the beautiful ring and Rachel froze before a big smile appeared on her face. "Why, Thumpback, you sneaky rascal!" She said, excitement in her voice.
The others noticed and cheered. "Alright! He asked her!" Fiesta said happily.
"Finally," Spitfire said teasingly.
"Wait, you guys knew?" Kairi asked.
"Just a few of us," Fiesta said to her, smiling. "And congratulations to you both."
"Thank you," she said before looking thoughtful. "Will you guys...all be at my wedding, when it does happen?"
"Of course!" Spitfire said.
"We wouldn't miss that for anything, honey girl," Rachel said with a smile.
Kairi smiled and looked back at Thumpback. "This ranks up there as one of the best days of my life," she said. "Thank you, my handsome hunk."
"Anything for you, my jewel of the sea," he said as they kissed again, bound forever by love's gentle promise.
Happy Birthday, antaurilover685! Hope it's a blast! :)
GoldGuardian2418