Sora's Sweet Memories I
Sora hurried down the stairs as his mother broke down into tears. By the time he had reached her she was already bending down to pick up her dropped groceries. The little girl also put down her burdens and was starting to place fruit and vegetables back into one of the bags. Sora crouched down by the other bag and started to gather the shopping before his mother could start.
"Don't worry, mom, I got this," he said with his trademark grin.
His mother stared at him, jaw hanging. She looked as though she didn't believe her own eyes and the prolonged gawking made Sora think that she was even too afraid to blink lest this really be an illusion. He looked away uncomfortably, focussing on putting the shopping back into their bags. A gentle hand on his arm startled him just a little bit and he looked back at his mother. Her eyes were wide and tears fell freely as her grip tightened and loosened, the gentle squeezing reaffirmed that what she was seeing was real.
"Sora… you're home. I…"
"Mom, it's okay," Sora tried to assure her.
"B-but…" she sobbed. "You were gone. Where were you?"
"Um… I was around," Sora replied vaguely.
"But you weren't."
"It's fine, mom." Sora put his hand over the one that was squeezing his arm. His giant hand almost engulfed her smaller hands entirely. She was an odd one on the island. Large hands and feet were quite normal among the population, although Sora stood out for his ridiculously exaggerated proportions. His mother also stood out for her abnormally diminutive proportions, especially for someone as tall as her. Her son smiled at her. "I'm home again. Everything's cool. We should put this stuff away right now."
Sora swept the rest of the groceries into their bags and picked one up. His mother picked up the other and they both stood. She smiled down at him and shifted the shopping bag into one arm so that she could wrap the other around Sora and rest her chin on his head.
"Okay, that's fine for now, then," she said. "You're back and for now that's all I need."
She looked down at him and Sora looked up at her with a grin. She nodded her head towards the kitchen and began to make her way over there. Sora's smile dropped off his face and was replaced with an expression of curiosity and awe. "I can't believe that…" he muttered.
"What?" asked the little girl, looking up at Sora.
Sora turned to her suddenly and blinked. He'd forgotten she was there in that short time. He turned back to his mother, already busy filling the cupboards and the refrigerator. "I grew so much this past year and my mom is still taller than me."
Later that evening, Sora was in his room again, listening to the steady whir of the sewing machine that he'd almost forgotten combined with the crashing waves of the ocean right outside. He was finding that he room wasn't exactly the way he had left it. His mother had rearranged quite a few things while he was gone and Sora was now tasked with finding – and remembering – all of his books, toys and clothes (there was a stack of homework from a year ago that hadn't even been started). The clothes definitely had to go. They were all too small for him now, even his favourite shirt, which greatly dismayed him. The shirt was too big at the time that he left and that often garnered many complaints from his mother but he'd hoped to grow into it soon. It was sad that he'd already grown out of it by the time he returned. The toys and books brought a smile to his face though. He felt like a child again, looking at them all. When his body grew inside the pod he supposed his brain must have grown a lot with it because he felt too old for this stuff. He re-shelved his books and toys, leaving his adventure journal in amongst them, and turned around.
One toy caught his eye. A wooden ship hanging from the ceiling fan. He dragged his desk chair across the floor and parked it underneath, then stood on the seat so that he could look at it up close. He wondered why his mother hadn't put it away – it wasn't dusty so he knew she must have cleaned it too. Maybe she had thought that it belonged there or it looked fine right where it was. The female and male dolls that he had left hanging over the rails when he went away were relocated to a chest at the end of his bed but the boat remained. Sora knew he had to take it down, though; he wouldn't be able to use his fan otherwise. He found a pair of scissors to cut the string holding it up and brought it down to eye-level.
He remembered why it was up there:
Some days before they had finished building the raft, Sora, Kairi and Riku were spending a rainy day inside. They had gathered at Sora's house for lunch while the fat, grey clouds clumped overhead and hoped that they would be able to get away to the play island before it began to rain but the downpour came so fast and so suddenly. They hadn't even finished lunch yet. In any case, Sora's mother forbade them to go outside, let alone to get in a boat on the sea, so Sora's bedroom was the last haven.
Riku gazed out of Sora's window and grumbled. "Stupid rain. I want to go and finish our raft."
"Mom said we can't," Sora reminded him, searching around his chest, pulling out a toy sword. "So the only place left is here. I've got one for you too." Sora tossed another toy sword on the bed where Riku was kneeling in front of the window.
"Hey, Sora, what's this?" Kairi asked, pulling a certain object down from the top shelf.
"That's a ship," Sora replied, standing up. "Dad built for me when I was little."
"It's great. I wonder if we could build a ship."
"We can't build a ship," Riku interjected. "We would need heaps of workers and lots of wood, steel and a special kind of canvas for the sails."
"I know we can't build a ship," Kairi said, "but what if we got to a world where we met a princess or a queen and became friends with them. Would they build us a ship?"
"Definitely!" Sora grinned. "And then we could sail to all of the worlds easily and have big adventures." Sora swung his sword around playfully. "And there's going to be one world where I become the hero after saving a town from a giant multi-headed monster!"
"Sora, this isn't a game," Riku reminded him. "You wouldn't be able to defeat a big monster by yourself."
Sora pouted at Riku. The older boy sometimes thought that his best friends didn't believe that they were really going to travel to another world. Kairi and Sora exchanged glances and Riku sighed. The playful atmosphere was killed, making the air feel heavy and sodden, just like outside. Riku's gaze travelled across his knees to the sword beside him. Struck with an idea, he picked it up.
"You can't defeat a big monster by yourself because you'll need my help," he declared, standing up on the bed and brandishing his sword. "But I think the most likely place that a giant multi-headed monster would be hiding is under the sea."
Sora and Kairi laughed jovially.
"Sure! And that's how we'll get our ship," Sora added. He took two white ragdolls from his chest and propped them up against the rails of the ship in Kairi's hands. "We're sailing along on our raft and then all of a sudden we hear a cry for help across the sea."
"We turn around and then there's this huge, magnificent ship belonging to a noble," Kairi continued the story, taking the boat and rocking it as she ran around the room, "but it's being attacked by a ferocious sea monster!"
She grabbed a blue lizard plush toy and chucked it unceremoniously onto the deck of the boat. Sora lifted his sword.
"I'll save you!" he shouted, leaping forward and stabbing the lizard, pushing it helplessly off the ship's deck. Kairi giggled.
"We're saved! We're saved!" she said in a high-pitched voice, meant to be the voice of the dolls. She moved their little heads as they talked. "Thank-you so much, kind warrior. You're our hero."
"It was nothing."
Riku saw the need for a new character in the story and pulled Sora's sheet off the bed, wrapping it around himself like a cloak. "Ha! Did you think it was going to be that easy? I am the Dark Lord Mercutio! That was my monster you vanquished."
"Hey, what happened to you helping me defeat the monster?" Sora interrupted.
"Seems like you defeated it just fine on your own," Riku said with a smirk. Sora was still frowning at him though. "Oh, c'mon! It's just a game, right? And now I, Dark Lord Mercutio, will use my magic to sink this ship!"
"No!" Sora screamed theatrically, jumping in front of the boat just as Riku pointed his sword at it.
Kairi laughed. "Now you're sunk, Sora. You're going to have to defeat the Dark Lord if you want to get above the sea again. These people could still be in danger, you know."
"Huzzah!" Riku shouted, pointed his sword at Kairi. The girl gawked at Riku. "I just turned the hero's girlfriend into a sea monster too. If you want her back you'll have to get through me."
"No way, Riku, that's evil, even for a game," Sora complained blushing at the role that Riku had arbitrarily given Kairi. He gave the girl a worried look as though she really would suddenly turn into a monster now.
"Why am I the 'girlfriend'? Why couldn't I be the sidekick?" Kairi protested.
"Too late, we've already written the story," Riku said. "But you can be the girlfriend-sidekick once Sora defeats the Dark Lord Mercutio. For now, you're a monster."
Kairi sighed but was for the most part content with the compromise. She took Sora's desk chair and a piece of string from his drawers to the centre of the room. She stood on the chair while she tied the boat to the ceiling fan, leaving the dolls in place. When she got down she quickly pushed the chair to the side and got down into a feral position, nails bared like claws and teeth gnashed.
"Why'd you put it up there?" Sora asked.
"Because we're underwater, remember? The boat is above us. Now just play the story," Kairi urged.
"I'll never let you get away with this!" Sora yelled at Riku in mock. He and Riku jumped forward and their swords clashed.
"Sora! Help us! The monster is attacking!" Kairi squeaked, jumping as high as she could to bat at the ship.
"You guys are ganging up on me! This is no fair!" Sora whined.
"Tough," Riku retorted. "If you want to be a hero on the high seas you have to learn that they won't always fight fair out there."
"And you still have to be able to win," Kairi agreed.
"Alright! Fine!" Sora decided and lunged for Kairi, swinging his sword at her. She broke into peals of laughter as she ran from his wooden weapon. He then turned and gripped the handle with both hands, slashing at Riku. The silver-haired boy blocked it but the loud clack of wood on wood showed that there was more power behind this attack. The boys began a swordfight in Sora's little room with Kairi standing around the side only occasionally remembering to pretend to be a monster.
An hour later the rain had slowed but didn't stop. They had already had enough of playing their game and any of the other games that they could think of. Kairi got up from a game of pick-up-sticks and left Sora's room, leaning over the balcony rail to call down to the woman on the sewing machine.
"Hey, …, I think the rain has almost stopped. Can we go out now?"
"It's still heavy," Sora's mother called back, "So no, especially since I know you're just going to get on a boat and go to the island. The sea is really rough right now."
Kairi sighed and returned to Sora's bedroom, shutting the door behind her. A quick deliberation followed in which the trio decided to sneak out through the window anyway and try to make it to the island.