Chapter 4: Splendor

For the first time in a long time, time began to mean something to me again.

And for the first time in a long time, I was fully aware of what Sora and I were doing. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, and we were sitting against a palm tree, enjoying the cool shade that was resting on our face as we rummaged through our lunch.

Hmm… a sandwich… a carrot… and… a CUPCAKE! Aw, I love you, Mom!

Sora was very nearly back to his old self again. Only now that I was coming out of my own stupor did I realize just how painful my withdrawal had been for him. It was like a deep, unexplained depression that had gripped his soul. It was so unlike Sora that everyone who knew him had begun to worry. Especially Kairi.

But thankfully, it had passed.

You're supposed to eat the other stuff first, I chided, rather fondly.

Sora made us hesitate with our mouth open; the cupcake was directly in the line of fire. We sighed, and we eyed the sugary morsel over almost mournfully. Awww… it won't hurt anything, will it? he thought.

Only the lining of your stomach, I replied.

Sora pondered this for a moment. Then we laughed and took a gargantuan bite out of it. I can live with that, he thought gleefully.

Sure you can, I thought sarcastically, but I enjoyed the cupcake's taste and smell almost as much as he did. Maybe it was just because his thoughts were so entertaining when he was digesting sugar.

"Hey, Sora," a very familiar voice said. We turned around as the usual fleet of butterflies assaulted our stomach.

"Hey Kairi," we returned, and I was vaguely pleased that Sora had done something to make our voice sound casual.

She linked her hands together behind her back and bent over, smiling. I noticed that her sunburn had faded away completely, leaving her usual milky skin in its wake. And there were those same ocean-blue eyes boring into ours-how dearly familiar they were! "Whatcha doing, lazy bum?" she asked, a little smile playing around the corners of her lips.

"Eating lunch," we answered, ignoring the jibe. "My mom packed it for me when I told her about how we kept trying to spear fish for lunch out here. Want some?"

She contemplated this for a moment. "Well… do you have anything sweet?"

We grinned, and Sora let a short laugh escape our mouth. "Um… I did a minute ago," we said, dangling the cupcake wrapper between our fingers. "You're a little late, though."

"Aw… you didn't even leave me a bite?" she asked, feigning petulance.

"Nope."

She laughed and stuck her tongue out at us. "Fine. Guess I won't tell you my idea."

"What idea?" we asked, almost immediately. Sora was a sucker for any bait she laid out.

"Nuh-uh. Not telling," she teased, peeking at us from beneath her eyelashes. Then she turned around, hands still linked behind her back, and began to flounce away in the same direction she'd come from.

"Hey!" we said, laughing. "Wait up!" We jumped to our feet, ignoring what was left of the lunch, and took off after her. She giggled and started running when she heard our footsteps coming after her.

We laughed and chased her down the beach. For a girl, she was pretty fast and surprisingly agile, leaping over random piles of driftwood with ease. Finally we reached the north end of the island, and there was nowhere left for her to run. We splashed through the shallow water beneath the dock, then reached out and snagged her by the waist before she could get around us.

She was so warm and small beneath our hands, looking up at us with wide, sparkling blue eyes and giggling nonsensically. We scooped her up bridal-style, one arm beneath her knees and one at her back. Her body was practically weightless, hanging in our arms like a pearly crescent moon.

And then we stopped laughing, and Kairi did too. The smiles slowly melted off our faces, and we looked into her eyes and she looked into ours.

For the briefest moment, I could see a kind of familiar stirring in them—and nervous excitement rushed through me. Maybe this was as close to Naminé as I would ever be, but in a way, maybe it was all I ever needed.

I waited for Sora to get chickenhearted and maybe force us to blush and set her on her feet. But he didn't. We just held her: held her for what felt like an eternity.

And then we were leaning toward her, our eyelashes pulling over our eyes like curtains. Our heartbeat increased, and we heard the whisper of her lips as they parted in anticipation, then caught the sharp, nectarine aroma of her lip gloss. We leaned toward her, searching…

"Sora! Kairi!"

We nearly died of a heart-attack right then and there. Kairi's hand flew to her chest, and her eyes were wide and fearful.

"There you are," Tidus said, coming around the corner. When he saw us standing there with Kairi in our arms, he laughed.

Suddenly Selphie appeared behind him. "Leave them alone, Tidus," she was saying. "We can play ball another—" she stopped short, and huge green eyes grew wide as they roved over us. Her hand flew to her mouth, and she stifled a giggle. "Whoops!" she said pointedly, then grabbed Tidus by his arm and began towing him back toward the beach. "Sorry guys!"

After they were gone, we looked down at Kairi and gave a short, awkward chuckle. "Erm…"

"Those two," Kairi said exasperatedly, wriggling in a way that expressed her desire to be set down. We set her on her feet, and she sighed.

We couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. By the look on Kairi's face, she was, too.

Then Sora suddenly remembered the reason we'd chased her down in the first place. "Um, Kairi?" we asked. "What was that idea you had? You know, that you were talking about earlier?"

"Hmm?" Kairi asked. Then her face brightened. "Oh. I was just going to ask you—well, you know how there's that firework show on the mainland tonight?"

"Yeah," we answered. Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka were planning to attend, and they'd invited us along, too. It was one of the biggest Destiny Islands celebrations of the year.

"Well," Kairi began, and she reached over and grabbed our hand in her own, only to gaze down at our fingernails rather than our face. "I was wondering… do you really even want to go? To the show and the parade and all that?"

We were surprised. "Um, I dunno. Why?"

"Well, I bet we'd get a pretty nice view of the fireworks from the tree house," she said slowly, still refusing to look us in the eye. "That's if you wanted to stay here for the show instead."

"Like… all of us?"

"No," she said, her face coloring just a little bit. "Like… just me and you."

"Oh." Sora was slightly stunned. And then an excited, jittery feeling washed over us—a feeling that was both pleasure and agony at the same time.

Well, say yes! I thought sharply. He had no idea how lucky he was that he could say yes; that he could tell this girl how we felt about her—this girl who was more than one girl.

"Oh—" we said, "Yeah! I mean—that'd be awesome!"

She looked up quickly, and a smile spread across her face. "Really?"

"Sure," we said, and then a strange surge of confidence swept through Sora. "I mean—" we squared our shoulders. "I'd go anywhere—do anything—as long as I could be with you."

She looked at us for a long moment. And then her eyes turned all shiny, and she was giving us the most heart-melting smile in the world. Because it was so obvious that Sora had meant what we'd said—and even more importantly, said it. At last.

"Sora…"

The way she breathed the word sent shivers down our spine. We scooped her up in a soft, sweet-smelling embrace, and she melted to our chest like butter. I felt a swooping sensation in our stomach—and it had come from me. Because when Kairi was in our arms like this and I couldn't see her face, it was easy for me to imagine that she was Naminé. And in a way, she was.

Kudos, Sora, I thought happily. What did I tell you?

He was a little startled at the nature of the thought. Then he almost laughed. Yeah, I know, he thought. You were right… whoever you are.

"Let's go hang out with them for a while," Kairi finally said, leaning out of our embrace. "You know, the others. Just so they won't be mad when we don't go with them tonight."

We made a face. "Do we have to?"

She laughed, then pulled us close again. "We'll have together-time later…"

Butterflies. Tell her we don't feel like waiting, I thought playfully.

'We'?

Uh… I hastily backpedalled, I mean... you…

Uh huh… he replied, almost knowingly.

"Sora?" Kairi asked, laughing lightly. "Are you still with me?"

"What? Uh, sorry," we said, and a dorky, lopsided grin stole its way across our face. "Just thinking."

She smiled even wider, flashing a perfect set of snow-white teeth at us. Then her arms tightened around our waist and she rested her head on our chest. Her hair smelled sweet.

Or, more accurately, their hair smelled sweet. Because in that moment, I could have sworn that it was blonde.

-:-

Even though Sora and I weren't crazy about the idea, we spent the afternoon playing soccer. Tidus and Wakka were absolutely enthralled because we now a decent amount of players. For the first time in weeks Selphie and Kairi both agreed to play, and even Riku had decided to grace us with his presence.

The field was a wide stretch of beach, and one goal was a couple palm trees while the other was a boulder and a pile of driftwood. The thick sand was sometimes hard to play in, but it was a good cushion in case things got rough.

It was a long and grueling game since Riku and Wakka were the goalies and they were exceptionally good at it. After the team containing Riku, Selphie, and Tidus was victorious, the rest of us collapsed in the sand, gasping for breath and dripping with sweat. Wakka kicked the soccer ball into the bushes in frustration. "Rgghhh…. Sora, you suck at this, ya?"

We couldn't help but be somewhat insulted. "What! No I don't!"

"Then why didn't we win? Huh?" Wakka demanded, bending over and rubbing the back of his head where the soccer ball had nailed him.

"Because Sora's what we like to call a space-case," Riku said laughingly, his eyes flashing down at us from their lofty frames. He tossed his head, flipping his long, silvery bangs from his eyes.

Sora wanted to retort, but I took the opportunity to interrupt, Chill, Sora. He's just trying to work you up. At which he promptly closed our mouth. His obedience was unusual, I'll give you that, but I wasn't going to complain.

Kairi caught Riku's eye, then shook her head as though to discourage him.

"No, it's okay," we said, taking Riku by surprise. "There's probably some truth to that."

Riku frowned as though he'd been denied something that was vital to his existence. Then he whirled around and caught Tidus in a headlock. "So what was with that sad attempt at a header, Tidus?" he taunted, grinding a fist into the latter's head. "Kinda looked like you were doing the funky chicken to me."

"What? No it didn't!" He pushed at Riku's restraining arms and tried to wriggle free, but had little success. "C'mon, Riku, lemme go!"

Kairi caught our eye and stifled a giggle. Thankfully, it looked like Riku had found a new victim.

When it was time to go, Kairi decided that we would leave with the rest of the guys, and then come back later. She wanted a chance to shower before our date.

Our date. I wondered how Naminé felt about that. Was it possible that she was as nervous as I was? I was almost sure of it. Then again, she'd always seemed so calm and serene…

And so we paddled back with the others in our canoes. Even though the sea was a little choppy, it took only a few minutes, and when we arrived back at the mainland we were almost crowded out by a throng of excited people, trying to get front row seats to the show on the beach.

Maybe Kairi was right—it would be nice to be able to enjoy this in the comfort and privacy of our own island, even if it meant that we had to be further away.

We walked Kairi along the dock, then up the cobblestone path until we arrived at her house. The village was quiet this time of day, and the only movement was that of palm fronds rustling in the wind and smoke curling out of a few stray chimneys.

We stood on the doorstep with her for a moment, not talking, not worrying about anything at all, but not really needing to, either.

She looked up at us, smiling serenely in the afternoon sun. She was just so—perfect. So we wrapped our arms around her and cradled her to our chest. She sighed and clutched us to her as though we were the air wafting through the palm trees and the sun on her cheek: as though we were the embodiment of everything that made up who she was—her dreams, her love, her life. It was one of those moments when she was the most beautiful girl in the world as far as Sora was concerned. And it was the moment that I really understood how beautiful Naminé was to me, too.

"I don't want you to go…" she breathed. Her arms tightened around us.

We buried our face in her hair. "I'll be back to pick you up in an hour," we said.

"That's not what I meant," she murmured. "I meant that… I don't want you to leave me… ever again." As she said it, I felt Naminé's subconscious agreement.

Tell her we won't, I thought to Sora, forgetting all about my determination to keep myself out of our conversations from now on. Tell her we'll stay with her forever.

He didn't seem surprised or mystified by my presence. But his answer wasn't exactly what I'd wanted to hear.

We won't be able to stay with her forever, he thought back. Who knows what the future will bring? I'm the keyblade master. And you are a part of me, apparently. So you have to come, too.

He was right of course. But how were we supposed to tell Kairi and Naminé that?

"I'll stay as long as I possibly can," we answered slowly, carefully.

Suddenly, she stiffened and leaned away from us. We caught her gaze, and her eyes were full of sharp, ragged pain that contradicted their round and placid shape. As they began to pool with tears, she buried her face in the fabric of our shirt.

How unfair it was. But we didn't speak of it again. It hurt too much.

Instead, we ran our hands up and down her back until she had composed herself. When we saw her face again, she was smiling as though she had decided to lock the idea away in a chest and throw away the key. "I'll see you in an hour," she said casually, pulling away and moving toward the door.

"Kairi?" We called out suddenly, just as she was reaching for the knob.

"Yes?" she replied, turning slowly. The wind rushed through the trees, and sheaves of dark red hair danced around her face.

"I love you, you know." The words were spoken quickly, before Sora had a chance to second-guess himself. Because it was about time that she heard it.

She studied us for a long moment, and we could tell by twitching of her mouth that she was on the verge of tears again. But then she took a deep breath. Her shoulders rose and fell, and her lips curved upwards in a new smile—a genuine one. A smile that told of inner acceptance. "I love you, too," she said softly. "And I guess that's all I need for now."

-:-

On the way home, we wondered if we should rethink what we were doing. After all, would a relationship with Naminé and Kairi really be beneficial at this point? We weren't exactly an average bunch of teenagers without a care in the world, after all. What if we couldn't promise them the future that they deserved? What if we couldn't promise them anything?

And yet… Sora had always been the type that followed his heart without question. And something about that just seemed right. Kairi was right for him. Naminé was right for me.

Hard to imagine life without her, isn't it? I thought toward Sora. Something about her just… fits.

Yeah… Sora agreed. Then an interesting thought occurred to him, and he directed it toward me. So… do you see Naminé whenever you see Kairi, Roxas?

I was more than a little taken aback. How long had he known I was there? How did he recognize me for who I was? Sora had never been much of a detective. It looked like he was turning over several new leaves, today.

Not always… I answered carefully. But sometimes when you touch Kairi, I can hear Naminé's thoughts.

Sora didn't seem shocked or disturbed like I thought he would. He was merely thoughtful. Oh. Sorry that you can't be with her… you know, the way that I'm with Kairi. That must be hard.

Intuitive! Sora was being intuitive! I could hardly believe it. Well… it's okay. It was hard before, but now I know where I belong. And in a way… I really am with her... whenever you're with Kairi.

That's kind of how I figured out that you were there in the first place, he thought. Whenever… 'we'… were around Kairi, you'd sort of come alive. I could feel you. And I knew that it must be you, since you were my Nobody, and Naminé was Kairi's…

Right.

Finally, we arrived at home. After being greeted by Sora's mom and explaining the situation to her, we dashed upstairs to get ready.

And don't overdo it with the cologne this time, I reminded him.

Thanks for the tip, me.

You're welcome, I.

-:-

As the sun set, things cooled off a little more than usual. But for once the usual ocean breeze was absent from the air, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was perfect weather for a firework show.

People gave us strange looks as we helped Kairi into a canoe, untied it from the dock, and set out across the smooth, black water. But we hardly noticed them, really. Sitting next to Kairi was better than sitting in front-row seats any day, no matter where we were.

As we paddled out toward the island, it struck Sora how precious this tiny girl beside us really was. How her eyes sparkled like moonlit pools, and her hair tickled at her pearly-white shoulders.

I'll never find anyone like her in all the worlds for as long as I live, Sora thought. And coming from someone who lived inside his brain, trust me when I say that he believed it.

Well I have, I thought, a little teasingly.

That took him by surprise. Hey—Naminé doesn't count.

Why not?

Because they're the same girl, remember?

Hmm… Yeah. In a way.

We paddled up to the dock and tied the canoe securely in place. Then we turned around, scooped Kairi up and set her down on the ledge. A gentle smile played around the corners of her lips, and her eyes sparkled down at us as we grabbed onto the dock and then swung ourselves up to sit beside her.

She scooted closer to us, then sighed and rested her head on our shoulder. "We could just stay here," she said contentedly.

"Don't you want a better view?" we asked.

"I honestly couldn't care less about fireworks right now," she admitted with a short laugh.

We laughed too, then wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Same here. But I know there's a stack of blankets in the tree house, in case we get cold."

She thought about that for a minute, then said, "Okay."

So we helped her up, then took her hand in ours and proceeded across the beach. Even though the sun had set a long time ago, it was easy to see where we were going. The moon was rising over the horizon as though it had sprung out of the ocean, and it was full and round and bright against the sky.

There was no sound except the sharp clunk clunk, clunk clunk of our shoed footsteps as we made our way along the walkway to the tree house. We climbed the ladder and went inside.

Sure enough, the usual stack of blankets and board games were sitting against the wall. We grabbed a large, fuzzy blue quilt and spread it out on the floor right beneath the entryway. Since the blanket was so large, we rolled it up several times and spread it across the place where Kairi would be lying. It would help dull the hardness of the wooden floor beneath her delicate frame.

As we worked, Kairi's eyes never left us. She opened her mouth once or twice only to close it again and continue watching our preparations with nothing short of worshipful adoration in her eyes.

And when we sat down and motioned for her to do the same, she didn't hesitate to curl up at our side and rest her head on our shoulder. Almost automatically, we wound an arm around her. In that moment, there was nothing else in the world but her.

"Thank you, Sora," she sighed.

We pressed our face into the soft, sweet-smelling surface that was her hair. Then her words sunk in, and we couldn't help but ask, "What for?"

"For this," she said softly. Suddenly there was a distant, muffled crash. We looked out at the large, black sky stretching above us and were almost surprised to see streaks of red light blooming from a single, bright point on the horizon. The firework show had begun.

She pulled away, then rested her head on her hand and looked into our eyes. Another firework filled the sky with golden light, illuminating her face and making it, if possible, even more unearthly in its beauty.

"You don't need to thank me for this," we assured her. "You deserve everything… everything, and more than I could ever give you in my entire lifetime."

She gave us a round-eyed, adoring smile because she could obviously tell that Sora'd meant what we'd said. After all, Sora had never been very eloquent – he was always blatantly and unwaveringly honest, no matter what the circumstances. Calling him "smooth" would be amusingly inaccurate. There was nothing smooth about him at all—nothing contrived, nothing suave. He was simply honest.

And his love for her was nothing short of that. Honest. Simple. Clean. Kind of like the way I felt about Naminé.

Another firework exploded, flooding the sky and her skin with iridescent light.

Naminé, I thought softly, probingly. She felt so close, now… close to the surface…

Suddenly, Kairi's fingers were beneath our chin, warm and soft. Her face was only inches from ours, and we could smell the unique aroma that came from her chest and neck.

We took her face in our hands, caressing her warm, soft cheeks with our thumbs. The shadows over her eyes deepened until we could see nothing but her pale, delicate eyelids. She leaned in closer, searching, and her breath caught and her lips parted.

And we guided them to our own.

They were soft and sweet—the same as always, coated with a layer of luscious strawberry lip gloss. But something about this kiss was even better than all the rest. Or at least for me, it was.

I could actually feel Naminé this time. I could feel her in Kairi's fingers at the nape our neck, twisting our hair between them; I could feel her in Kairi's lips, pulling and tasting and loving us with a light yet desperate fervor. And I could hear her voice in the sigh that rushed from Kairi's lungs and filled our senses with the essence of strawberry.

Naminé

Her lips kneaded ours, and she wrapped her arms even more tightly around our neck, pulling our body to hers. Her hands continued to pull at our hair, twisting it around her fingers. She trembled a little as we released her face, then wrapped our arms around her waist and pulled her even closer.

I wanted her to feel me, too. And so I willed myself into Sora's hands—really tried to put myself into their movements. I willed myself into the fingers that traced her spine and came to rest on her pearly shoulders. I willed myself into the lips that danced with hers. And as I did so, I knew that she would be able to feel the warmth and subtlety that was me. I knew she would recognize me, just as I had recognized her. The idea filled me with pure bliss—and I was sure that my portion of Sora's heart must have been simply overflowing with it.

And now it was as though there was no Kairi and Sora at all. There was only me and Naminé, and my hands were in her long blonde hair and hers were running up and down my chest. It was as though I had complete control of my very own body. And so I knotted my fingers in her hair, holding her face to mine and breathing when she breathed. Our lips moved in perfect synchrony. Her eyelashes fluttered and tickled at my cheek, and it was all so delicious that we simply couldn't stop.

A loud, sudden gasp brought me to my senses. Instinctively, I released Naminé and turned around to see where it had come from.

I was more than slightly confused at what I saw. Sora was looking at me, eyes wide and mouth agape. He looked nothing short of stunned, sitting back on his heels with his hands in the air.

Wait a minute—Sora?