DISCLAIMER: Square Enix and Disney own Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts respectively. Blizzard Entertainment owns Overwatch.
Chapter 2: Friendlies
Donald was currently walking through the large, spacey hall of the Disney Castle as he conversed with someone near to him.
"As you can see, the Disney Castle is the royal home fit for the royal King Mickey!" He opened his arms large and wide. "Everything here is completely spotless since our assistants and maids are always on the job to make everything look nice and tidy!"
Donald took a moment to breathe in the fresh air of the castle's interiors. Some people had assumed that the King's Royal Magician loved his job a bit too much.
"The castle also contains the source of all Light that acts as a shield for this kingdom, and as a nasty repellent for those confounded Heartless!" he continued, "Also, every room leads to a special surprise that even you might like!"
Donald tilted his head sideways to look at the person following him. "Isn't that great?"
His guest was a young girl who looked to be about sixteen years old. She had long red hair that reached to the upper portion of her back. She wore a pink dress fashioned with several vertical zippers, along with a white shirt underneath. A black hood was attached to the top of her dress. On her left wrist were three bracelets. She also wore a pair of lilac sneakers with laces that wrapped around her ankles.
Unlike the excited Magician, the girl tried her best to maintain an entertained look in front of Donald, since she didn't want to be rude. To humor him, she tried to put up a fake smile.
"Yeah, it sure sounds awesome…" the girl replied.
In all honesty, she just wanted to explore the entire kingdom some more. Alone. She just didn't want to be guided around by someone, as it gave her the impression that people saw her as a frail girl who constantly needed protection. Besides, all she wanted right now was a little fun and excitement, for once in her life.
Of course, it was nice of these people to show her around the place, but she could've done all of this on her own if they gave her a chance. In this situation, however, she was unable to meet new people and make new friends, since her escort used a shortcut to get away from everyone and into the castle.
Still, maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask her escort for permission.
"Um, hey… Donald? You mind if I, you know, go on my own, for a bit?" She asked curiously.
In an instant, Donald halted. The girl stopped as well. He turned around with a serious look on his face, as he looked up at the girl in the eyes.
"No way, Kairi! The King assigned me with the task to take you around the kingdom and the castle! And as his Royal Magician and best friend, I won't let him down!" Donald exclaimed.
The girl, Kairi, could only sigh. "But you took a shortcut and brought me away from the outer side of the castle. Do you think you can let me go on my own, for once? Please?" She gave a genuine smile.
Donald only crossed his arms. "Aw phooey!" He denied.
In response, Kairi slumped in defeat while Donald turned back around to continue the tour. "Now, right this way! We've got a lot of exploration to do around the castle!"
Kairi sighed, "Yes, sir…"
Donald pointed to an open room. "Now, as you can see here…"
Kairi was already getting bored of being inside the castle. She could already feel her skin getting paler by the minute because of her being stuck inside another big castle. As her eyes started to wander, she spotted a young maid walking by. She looked like she had nothing to do except wait for another task like the rest of the assistants and maids that Donald mentioned.
Suddenly, Kairi had an idea.
As the maid was right next to the two, Kairi leaned to the side and whispered, "Psst! Hey!"
The maid quickly turned to Kairi curiously and started to walk the same direction as her. She leaned over as well to listen what Kairi had to say.
"…Do you think you can do me a favor and switch places with me…?" Kairi whispered. "…Please…?"
The maid's eyes quickly switched between Donald and then back at Kairi. After a brief moment of silence, she smiled and nodded at the redheaded girl. Kairi silently stepped back as the maid stepped in to take her place behind Donald, who was still unaware of what was happening.
Kairi quickly turned around right before looking back at the maid, who only smiled at her as she quietly followed Donald. With that, she immediately made her way out of the castle.
After running out of the castle, Kairi made her way rest of the kingdom. She found herself in the middle of a large town. She slowly spun around as she could see all of these amazing colors and varieties of extraordinary structures. Buildings were either short or tall, thin or wide. Each of them was coated in distinctive colors; some of them had a mixture of those. There were even strangely-shaped flying vehicles floating in the sky above her.
Looking at the people around her, most of them looked like very happy folks. Some of them were laughing and cheering, others were dancing and singing. Of course, there were several who were arguing about pointless things, few of them had already started to brawl in a very ridiculous manner.
Several people who were nice saw Kairi and even waved at her. She happily waved back at them as well.
Kairi continued to walk forward and looked around…
"OOF!"
…until she unexpectedly bumped into a shorter man. He seemed to have dropped a small pile of metal and tools on the brightly colored ground.
To Kairi's eyes, he looked very… odd. He was very short, like a dwarf, of course. However, he was also wearing an outfit consisting of a round, red-colored metal object on his back with two exhaust pipes sticking out. He also had a welding mask on the top of his head, along with a small device over his right eye. He wore a black, armored top without any sleeves. His left arm was completely cybernetic as it consisted of a red cyborg arm with a claw-like contraption at the hand portion. His right arm, however, was normal, but muscular; there was a tattoo in the shape of three gears on his shoulder. There was also a brown glove over his right hand. He wore black pants with red armored paddings on the knee and calves. He also wore gray, metal boots.
The strange-looking dwarf groaned in annoyance. "Aww, now look what you've done!" He shouted. "That's most of my scraps and parts and tools that you knocked down!"
Kairi had an apologetic look on her face as the dwarf set down his toolbox and knelt down to gather his stuff into one place.
"Oh, I'm really sorry about that!" Kairi knelt down with the dwarf. "Here, let me help you."
The dwarf sighed in a frustrated manner as they gathered up the fallen items and scraps.
"You got to watch where you're going, kid! I'm already late for my personal daily weapon inspections!" The dwarf said.
Kairi quickly glanced up at the dwarf and gave a quizzical look. "Uh, weapon inspection?"
Suddenly, it was the dwarf's turn to look at Kairi confusedly.
"What? Yeah, weapon inspection! I'm the one who set up all of those turrets around the kingdom!" He gestured his robotic left arm to the surrounding ends of the kingdom.
Kairi squinted her eyes. She looked very carefully and saw every individual red turret on the edges of the whole kingdom. The young girl widened her eyes in surprise. She didn't even notice they were there when her group reached to this place.
"Whoa…" Kairi started, "I didn't know that." She looked back at the dwarf. "So you just build turrets?"
The dwarf looked at her questionably as he continued to place his fallen stuff back into his box. Kairi handed some of the stuff that she managed to pile up.
"Just build turrets? I'm a weapons designer! I've designed and built every kind of weapon one could ever think of!" The dwarf quickly snatched a piece of metal from Kairi's hands. "All of them, just from metal and molten scraps!"
"Oh." Kairi responded as she continued to hand over the rest of his tools and pieces.
The dwarf placed those items into his box along with the rest. He then pulled out his signature hammer and pointed it at Kairi.
"And as a weapons designer, it's my job to make sure that all of my weapons systems are up-to-date and that they're all able to fend off those nasty intruders outside the kingdom walls!"
After a brief moment, as Kairi continued to stare back apologetically, the dwarf sighed and started to relax a bit. He waved his hand around before he started to speak again.
"Sorry I ranted for a second there. It's all this stress…"
Kairi only raised her hand up nicely. "It's okay. Don't worry about it." She smiled.
The dwarf looked up and made a small smile back at her. He extended his human hand out to Kairi.
"The name's Torbjorn." Torbjorn introduced.
Kairi happily took his hand and shook it gladly. "I'm Kairi. It's nice to meet you, Torbjorn."
"Likewise, Kairi."
They both stood up as the Torbjorn finally got everything placed into his toolbox. He looked up at Kairi, who was instantly surprised of how the man was shorter than she initially expected. He looked like he was about 4'7"!
"Welp, I'll be off now. Gotta make sure no troublemaker tampered with my things!"
Torbjorn quickly walked away as he was ready to get on with his personal inspections.
Kairi could only feel amused by how small Torbjorn was, but also how he was also a weapons designer. Though, she felt as if his role wasn't very surprising, to say the least.
Kairi started walking through the town again, staring at her surroundings. Compared to Radiant Garden, she has never seen such variety and vibrant colors such as these. She even could've sworn that she spotted several balloons floating in the air. Was it a time to celebrate, or did people here just love balloons a lot?
"OI! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING UP THERE?!"
Kairi jumped as a loud, angry voice abruptly entered her ears. She quickly turned towards the source of the sound. When doing so, however, what she found had shocked her greatly.
Walking to her right was a very large, bulky man dressed in a futuristic, knight-like armor. His helmet was styled a glowing-orange visor, along with a shape of a crown on top of the head. His chest piece protruded out a little more than the rest of his armor pieces. On his left forearm was a gauntlet-like shield in the shape of a lion's face.
In the armored man's right hand was none other than an extremely large metal hammer, which had some sort of rocket engines built on the back of the top piece.
While she felt somewhat intimidated by his appearance, Kairi noticed that the armored man was looking up at someone, and decided to see whom he was talking to. In her vision, she saw two normal-sized knights trying to hold up some sort of metal statue on a higher balcony. They seemed to have somehow messed up and caused the statue to almost fall down, if it weren't for their catching of it.
The armored man then pointed his armored finger at the nervous-looking knights. "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET SOMEONE KILLED WITH THAT?!" The knights quickly shook their heads at him. "THEN SET THAT THING STRAIGHT! OR I'LL COME UP THERE AND SET YOU STRAIGHT!"
"YES SIR, CAPTAIN REINHARDT, SIR!" The two knights screamed simultaneously.
Captain?! Kairi thought. He's their captain?!
Reinhardt nodded at the two knights. "GOOD."
Unexpectedly, the futuristic-looking Crusader suddenly stopped before nearly bumping into Kairi, who saw the whole thing. He stepped back a bit.
"Oh! My apologies! I almost did not see you there for a second." Reinhardt said.
Kairi looked up at the big knight that towered over her. "Oh, no it's alright! It's just, um…"
As Kairi tried to find the right words to say, Reinhardt got a better look at the girl. Once doing so, he was shocked to find out who she was.
"Wait a minute." Kairi froze as Reinhardt spoke, "I think I know who you are…"
Kairi gulped. Had she been found out? Did Donald already figure out that she left and decided to inform the scary-looking giant standing in front of her?
"Y-y-you do?" Kairi stuttered. "R-really?"
Reinhardt leaned a bit closer to her face. "Yes... Aren't you, uh, one of those refugees from that place… Radiant Garden?"
Kairi sighed with relief. She was still safe.
"Yeah…!" Kairi smiled. "My name is Kairi. I'm one of the people that came from Radiant Garden in search for refuge here in the kingdom."
After a few seconds of silence, Reinhardt then let out a hearty laugh. "Haha! Of course! I should've known! I am Reinhardt! It is nice to meet you, Kairi!" He then held back his metal-covered head as he continued to laugh away.
Kairi quickly joined in on the laughter for a short moment. She felt really relieved of how she wasn't in trouble already. After their laughter settled down, Reinhardt spoke again.
"Then I suppose that you're the young girl that our dear friend Donald Duck was supposed to escort through this kingdom, eh?" He said
Suddenly, Kairi's face paled a bit. Guess this giant figured her out after all. That can't be good.
"O-oh…" Kairi stuttered again, "I-is that so…? Uhh…" She looked away from Reinhardt's gaze. She couldn't tell if he was angry behind that helmet of his.
Suddenly, and unexpectedly, Reinhardt laughed loudly again while pulling his head back. She, however, was surprised by the man's reaction.
"W-what?" Kairi asked.
"Hahaha…! Oh, it's nothing. It's just unsurprising of how our feathery friend had managed to drive you away with another of his speeches."
Kairi sighed with relief, again. "Oh, yeah. It was kinda boring when he led me through this whole place. I didn't even get a chance to see what the outside of the castle looked like."
Reinhardt felt surprise by how Kairi specified what Donald did.
"Really? Is that so?"
Kairi nodded in response.
Reinhardt only chuckled. "Well, that is quite typical of Donald. He has this, eh, extreme loyalty to King Mickey, while carrying this… impatient attitude of his. That is one trait that causes people to stray away from the Royal Magician." He explained. "BUT, he does know what it is like to have fun and goof off. It's only at odds with that said loyalty to the King himself."
Kairi only sighed. "Yeah, I guess I could see that."
Reinhardt nodded back at the redheaded girl. "Well, I should be going now. I've got some important business to attend to." He reached his large armored hand out to her. "It was a pleasure to meet you, miss Kairi."
She smiled as she grabbed and gently shook the Crusader's hand. "Likewise, Reinhardt."
Reinhardt pulled his arm back and stood up straight.
"Yes, well—" Reinhardt's attention suddenly turned back to the two knights on the balcony again, "OI! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO MESS WITH THAT!"
The knights, and even Kairi, jumped from the Crusader's loud angry voice.
"SORRY, CAPTAIN REINHARDT, SIR!" The two knights screamed.
With the rocket hammer in his hand, Reinhardt marched past Kairi as he pointed his finger at his lesser knights. The young girl quickly held her breath as the giant Crusader continued to yell his voice out.
"DON'T MAKE ME GO UP THERE! I WILL GIVE YOU SUCH A BEATING YOU WON'T FORGET!"
As Reinhardt walked away from Kairi, she quickly breathed once more, relaxing from the suddenly intimidating shouts that the Crusader made. After looking back at him, Kairi quietly turned around and made her way through the rest of the town.
The deeper Kairi went into town, the more fascinated she was with what the kingdom contained. In her eyes, she saw many more futuristic forms of technology that she'd never seen before. There were several holograms that depicted the current global news, which mentioned an unknown vigilante taking down both criminals and Heartless around the world. She also saw several people creating a few gigantic sets of futuristic armor. How someone could just fit inside and pilot those suits was beyond her understanding, just like the illogical physique of Reinhardt himself.
On her way through the town, a few kids ran into her direction.
"You can't catch me~!" One kid said while running away.
"Oh yeah?! We'll see about that!" The second kid replied.
While playing their game of tag, they accidentally bumped into Kairi, who started to lose balance before stumbling into a large tent.
Unintentionally heading inside, Kairi somehow landed safely onto a soft bed nearby.
Next to the redhead was a young-looking woman. She had platinum blond hair that was tied to a ponytail. There was a golden halo-shaped ring hovering over her head; the ring was actually being held up by its lower ends, which were attached to the sides of her head. What she was wearing was… kind of odd yet unique. She wore an interesting suit that was mostly white on the upper torso, outer arms, and hips. The rest of the portions of the body consisted of an orange-yellowish color, including the legs, inner arms, and the cloth that hung down below her waist and rear. She wore black gloves and black boots.
Other than that, the woman even had wings on her back! She almost looked like an angel.
The woman turned her head and saw Kairi sitting on the bed.
"Ah, another patient already?" The woman said with an unfamiliar accent.
"Uh…" Kairi started.
While sitting on her rolling stool, the woman pushed herself away from her holographic tablet on her desk and instantly slid towards the young girl. She used her fingers to pull each of Kairi's eyelids open while shining a small flashlight into them.
"My name is Mercy and I will be your doctor for today." Mercy released Kairi's eyelids before pulling her mouth open and pressing a depressor against her tongue. "What is your name? And from a scale of one to ten, how is your pain?"
Mercy pulled the tongue depressor out of Kairi's mouth.
"Kairi. And zero, I guess? But, look, I'm not actually…"
She was interrupted as Mercy quickly cupped her left hand around Kairi's face as she nonchalantly examined her physical condition.
"Hmm… no bruises," Mercy turned Kairi's head side to side, "no cuts… not even any broken bones…"
Mercy released Kairi's face again as she slid to her desk to type up some records into her holographic tablet.
"Perhaps you have only minor, unnoticed injuries…" Mercy claimed, "…even so…"
The next thing Kairi knew, Dr. Mercy then picked up a futuristic-looking staff that was resting on the side of the tent. She turned around and aimed it at the redhead, who was confused of what the woman was going to do.
With a press of a button, Mercy's staff released a line of golden energy, which connected to Kairi's body.
"Healing Stream: Engaged." Mercy stated.
Suddenly, Kairi felt a fresh wave of energy entering and then swirling inside herself. Just as Mercy released the button, the young girl had felt brand new. It was almost as if she had just been reinvigorated.
Kairi quickly looked at her hands and arms as the stream of energy was done doing its magic.
"Whoa…!" Kairi said. "How did you…?"
Mercy set her staff aside while making a kind smile. "I'm a doctor, sweetie. It's what I'm best at."
She slid to her desk again and pulled one of the cabinets underneath. Reaching inside, Mercy pulled out a wrapped-up lollipop. She slid back to Kairi and handed the sweet candy to her.
"Here you are, miss. Your routine checkup is finished." Mercy said with a smile.
Kairi reluctantly took the lollipop and examined it. "Uh, thanks… Mercy. But I'm actually not sick… or hurt."
Mercy widened her eyes a bit. "You're not?" Kairi shook her head in response. "Odd… but for what reason did you come inside then?" She leaned in closer to Kairi. "Was it for the candy?"
Kairi widened her eyes in shock before quickly waving her hands at the angelic doctor.
"What?! N-no! Of course not! A few kids bumped into me and I just… tripped into this tent." Kairi answered.
Mercy slowly raised an eyebrow at the redheaded girl, who was currently anticipating a response from the woman. Kairi was starting to feel a little nervous, as the good doctor stared straight at her. The last thing she needed right now was to be accused of lying and taking things for granted. After all, she was never identified for being selfish or anything lower.
After a few more seconds of silence, Mercy finally nodded her head in understanding and pulled herself away from Kairi. "Ah, well, I suppose accidents can happen. No matter where you are." Mercy said. "Still, it's always a good idea to have a checkup once in a while. So, you're fine."
Kairi breathed with more relief as Mercy smiled at her. Suddenly a large thud echoed across the tent.
"OW!" Someone loudly screamed from a far distance.
Mercy only sighed and shook her head in disappointment. "Another patient. One of whom had hurt himself, again."
The doctor got off her stool and grabbed her staff. She pulled one of the flaps open as she let Kairi walk out first. She then followed behind her before giving a warm smile.
"Duty calls. I'll be seeing you soon."
With that said, Mercy's wings extended. Bright, golden energy emitted from the feather-shaped portions of the wings as the doctor flew up in the sky. Kairi looked on with awe and amazement.
So far, Kairi had been astounded by the people that she just befriended so far. Each of them was very unique in their own way. Other than the good that they displayed from their hearts, they were all distinctive from one another. She could already tell by what were their strengths, but she had yet to figure out what their weaknesses were.
While Kairi looked up at the bright blue sky, she heard another voice from behind.
"Well, fancy seeing a former resident of Radiant Garden around here."
Kairi turned around to see another young woman standing in front of her. She was dressed in a blue, metallic, futuristic suit of armor. She had somewhat dark skin and long, black hair. There was a black curved tattoo right below her right eye. Under her arm was a beak-shaped helmet.
The woman smiled at Kairi. "You must be Kairi. I've heard about you." She extended her hand to her. "People call me Pharah."
Kairi smiled back as she took Pharah's handshake. "It's nice to meet you, Pharah."
"You too." Pharah responded.
They let go of each other's hands.
"So, how are you liking the kingdom so far?" Pharah asked. "Anything new or exciting?"
Kairi nodded happily. "Yeah! There's a lot of things here that I've never seen before back at home! How's it that you guys have all of this?"
Pharah chuckled. "Simple, really. It's thanks to the combined works of the former members of Overwatch here."
Kairi widened her eyes surprisingly. "Overwatch? Really?! Like who?!" She asked excitedly.
Pharah looked up thoughtfully. "Well, there's Torbjorn, Reinhardt, and Mercy…"
Kairi was shocked. She'd met those three people just now! No wonder there was something familiar about them!
Pharah continued, "Oh, and there's one more other than those three."
Kairi perked her head up. "Who else?!"
"The last one… is standing right in front of you."
Kairi jumped a bit. Pharah was also part of Overwatch?! How could she not have realized this either? Before she could think any deeper into this, Pharah continued to speak.
"Well… not at first though." She explained. "It took me a while to become a part of something great like Overwatch."
Kairi gave a curious look. "Really? How so?"
Pharah looked up at the sky. "Back then, when I was younger, my mother was the one who used to work for Overwatch. She was one of the original members of it before it grew and obtained new operatives."
She took a slightly deep breath.
"Several years later, I told my mother that I wanted to join Overwatch as well, but she instantly denied it, saying that it was too dangerous for someone like me. She told me that I didn't have enough experience to fight what the rest of them were currently fighting. So, I decided to join the military to get what I needed.
Kairi continued to listen to Pharah's story.
"After I finished my training and eventually left the army for distinguished service, I was then offered a job by Helix Security International. It was this private security firm."
Kairi nodded as she heard her speak.
Pharah breathed. "Knowing that I wanted to prove to my mother that I could fight as well as she did, I took the job. And in doing so, I was given this armored suit, the Raptora Mark VI. It took me a while, but I'd managed to convince my mother what I was truly capable of. Of course, one of the reasons why she even let me join Overwatch was because she had these permanent injuries on her legs, forcing her to retire, unfortunately."
Kairi nodded slowly. "Oh…"
Pharah only shook her head.
"Still, my mother didn't mind too much, knowing that I was able to continue our family's legacy of soldiers. After getting her approval, I decided to leave Helix Security in exchange for joining Overwatch."
Pharah looked back at Kairi with a smile. "And the best part about it was that I was able to keep the suit."
The two chuckled together after Pharah finished her story. Kairi looked at her gladly. Pharah looked back at her, noticing something familiar.
"You know, you kind of remind of this boy. He's about the same age as you. He always has this positive and exciting air around him, like you do right now." She pointed out.
Kairi raised her eyebrows with interest. "Really? You think you can tell me who this boy is?" She asked.
Pharah only smiled back, right before speaking once more.
"Well, I think it'd be better if you went to see him instead." Pharah answered. "Besides, I think you two would get along real quick."
Although she was a bit confused as to why she couldn't just tell her, Kairi just nodded in agreement.
"Okay. But, do you know where he is?" She asked.
"Last I saw him, he was resting at the gardens in the middle of the castle." Pharah pointed at the Disney Castle that Kairi exited out of.
The blue-armored woman placed her helmet back onto her head.
"Sorry, but duty calls, and I need to jet."
The rocket propellers on Pharah's suit ignited and launched her into the air, allowing her to fly through the skies with ease. Kairi watched as another extraordinary hero made an extraordinary exit.
Taking Pharah's word, Kairi looked back at the Disney Castle before deciding to head back inside. She walked through the crowded yet colorful streets as she tried to make her way back to find this boy Pharah talked about.
He knew.
Sora knew that Reinhardt had yet to find out about him goofing off again. He even told Pharah so. It'd already been about five hours since he started resting against this grassy floor. It was really nice to lie on something so comfy again, instead of going through those backbreaking training routines, which got increasingly boring for him.
Sora opened his blue eyes to see the bright sky floating above him and the castle he was in.
Sky, he wondered. He remembered how his name was Japanese for "Sky". Sometimes, he wondered why he was given this name. Why, of all things, was he named after a sky? He wondered what made his parents think of that kind of name, but then he would realize that they were "gone", just like with Jack Morrison.
Whatever the reason was, Sora didn't care anymore, as he realized that he was just being lost in his thoughts. Perhaps it was time for him to go back to sleep again.
As the calm winds whistled a tune and blew across his hair and face, Sora slowly closed his eyes and prepared for another peaceful slumber.
Unbeknownst to him, however, a young redheaded girl suddenly stepped into the green garden. She saw the young spiky-haired boy ahead of her, his bangs brushing against his eyes and eyebrows. He was dressed in a sleek, mostly black outfit. She couldn't help but blush a bit, as she found the boy to be quite cute. Even in his sleep, he looked like an angel in her eyes.
At first, Kairi thought to wake him up and kindly introduce herself to him, but then, she had another, more playful idea. On the tips of her toes, she started to sneakily make her way to the sleeping boy on the grass.
After several more tiptoes, Kairi finally made it to the peaceful brunette. She stood beside his head and then crouched down. Getting a closer look at the boy, the girl noticed how the boy was quietly snoring as he rested against the ground.
He looked so peaceful, as if nothing could disturb him in his dormant state. Now was the time to give him a good scare.
Kairi smiled playfully. "Psst! Hey!" She whispered.
Sora grumbled a bit, trying to question who was there with him.
"Hey...! Wake up…!" The redhead repeated.
He breathed a bit before flickering his eyes open. Sora blinked a few more times before fully opening his eyes to get a clearer vision. Again, he saw the peaceful-looking sky…
"BOO!"
"GAH!" Sora freaked out and jumped up.
Kairi quickly pulled her head back just as he got up. Sora quickly tilted his head left to right. Then the next thing he knew, he heard a girl's voice laughing right behind him.
Sora quickly turned around. Once he did, however, he saw what would astound him like nothing else before. In his line of sight was a pretty redheaded girl dressed in pink. Her laugh was ringing in his ears like beautifully chiming bells. Suddenly, he felt his cheeks heat up a bit after seeing this girl in front of him.
Kairi opened her violet-blue eyes and met Sora's own ocean-blue eyes. Her cheeks reddened as much as Sora's had.
"Wha—?! How'd you—? Why'd you—?!" Sora stuttered.
Kairi only giggled at him. "I didn't expect you to be snoozing around here!" She said cheerfully.
Sora blinked again. "U-uh, y-yeah…" He sighed as he rested his hands against the ground for support.
Kairi then sat on the ground next to Sora. All she did was smile and look up at the sky with him.
"How'd you find me here?" Sora asked.
Kairi hummed. "I guess you could say that a little birdy told me that you'd be at the garden."
"Was it someone named Pharah?" Sora deadpanned.
"Yup."
Sora chuckled. "Figures." Silence. "…You didn't tell someone named Reinhardt about where I was, did you?"
Kairi looked at him curiously. "No. Why?"
Sora only sighed with relief. "No reason. Just don't want him to know what I was doing right now."
Kairi nodded. "He's pretty big."
"And kind of scary." Sora finished.
Kairi looked at him questionably. "Kind of?"
Sora glanced at her. "Once you get to know him anyway."
Kairi then chuckled in response, only to have Sora do the same a few seconds after. They looked at each other again with smiles.
"I'm Sora." He greeted.
"I'm Kairi." She greeted back.
They reached out their hands and shook. Immediately afterwards, they let go and continued to watch the sky above them.
"So," Kairi started, "what're you doing here? Other than sleeping your lazy butt off, of course."
Sora chuckled, "Ouch! Words can hurt, you know." Kairi giggled in response. "You know, just thinking. About things."
Kairi tilted her head at him. "What kind of 'things'?" She asked.
Sora smirked. "Nothing that's any of your business."
She playfully pouted at him, who only shook his head at her. Sora spoke again.
"You don't look like you're from around here." He pointed out.
"Nope." Kairi answered. "I'm actually one of the refugees that came from Radiant Garden."
Sora's eyes lit up a bit. "Oh, right! I heard that you guys were gonna show up here today!"
Kairi nodded.
"I also heard that a member of the royal family was with you guys too. I think the person was… a princess, right?" Sora asked.
Kairi sighed. "…Yeah, I guess…"
Unbeknownst to him, Kairi motioned her eyes away and rolled them in irritation. Even so, Sora continued to speak.
"Man, I wonder what it's like to actually be a part of a royal family? To feel like being a part of something greater?" Sora wondered aloud.
Kairi buried her knees into her chest while wrapping her arms around them.
"…By 'being a part of the royal family', you mean being cooped up in a large castle and spend little time with whatever friends you have…" Kairi muttered. "It's honestly better to go out on an adventure, doing whatever you want, whenever you want, instead of just being stuck at home with royally uptight people."
Sora nodded in response, only hearing the second part of what Kairi said.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Sometimes, I kinda want to go out and see what other places there are too." Sora said. "But there's always gonna be these people who care so much about you and what you do."
"I know, but it's just I…" Kairi started.
"You just can't help but…" Sora started too.
"…feel so… trapped!" The two said simultaneously.
Sora and Kairi quickly looked at each other surprisingly. Right afterwards, they started to laugh together, immediately aware of the timing of their words. It almost felt like these two were meant for each other, but who actually knows?
After the laughter died down, the two teens opened their eyes and looked at each other. They smiled ever so sweetly, almost seeing something that could truly bind them together.
Suddenly, a third set of footsteps came to the two. Turning to the side, Sora and Kairi saw a boy with silver hair and brighter blue eyes. He looked at the other boy in shock.
"Sora?"
I just want to let you guys know that there IS a possibility that each coming chapter COULD vary in word count!
Also, please leave a review. I'd like to know what you guys think. Thanks.