Chapter 9: Reflections of the Past

"You know, Azure, every so often, I like to think back on-"The orange-haired kid swiftly dodged yet another aerial attack from Lily. "-all the great times we had with Raina. They may have happened months ago, but I remember them like it was yesterday..."

"Mind if you share a few?"

"Sure! It's no-HA HA! Ya missed again!- problem!"

Our flowery-garbed foe continued the screaming she'd been up to for the past few minutes. "LISTEN TO ME WHEN I'M ATTACKING Y-"

"Uh, JJ, mind if ya keep her occupied for a bit?"

"Aye aye, Captain Slash!" And so my spiky-haired friend diverted the enemy's attention away from us, while the flame-haired youth shared some of his cherished memories.

"Let's see here… Where should I begin… How about the day she and I first met! …The day started out like any other. Woke up, watered flowers, dug a few pitfalls for unexpected visitors…. Then one of my villagers suggested a really awesome project, and I thought I'd go to the island and do some insect-fueled fund-raising. When I got there though, there was another person wandering around. She wore a yellow-hued jacket and black skirt, her brown hair tied back in a bun. It was on that warm night that I met Raina."

"I see… Go on…" Even though I heard about this meeting before, hearing it detail was still interesting.

"Well, I wasn't exactly the most social person, but I struck up a conversation, asking if she had some of the same interests I had. Shows we watched, games we played, that sort of thing. As it turned out, we had a lot in common! On the shores of that island, we bonded over many things, like electric mice and eating souls!"

"…What are you talking about?"

"Oh that's right, you wouldn't know anything about those, would you? I'll tell ya 'bout them some other time! But in any case, it was that August night that I had made a new friend! And not too long after that, I met JJ, and the three of us became inseparable!"

"I see… Do you have any other accounts of your times together to share?"

"Oh yeah! I have plenty of other- WOAH!" Ground's yellow-tied mayor suddenly flew back, nearly missing hitting us head-on.

"Whoops, sorry about that. That last attack threw me off-guard!" He got back up on his feet and dusted himself off. "Mind swapping out, Slash?"

"Will do JJ!" The flame-haired youth immediately jumped back into the fray. "How 'bout telling Azure here another story!"

"OK! How's this? Once upon a time, there was a forest of trees-"

"Not the kind I meant! I meant stories about Raina!"

"Right! Of course! …Now… Which one…" My mellow-eyed friend thought it for moment before deciding. "Ah! I think I've got one! By any chance, have you ever heard of K.K. Slider before?"

"No, I don't think I have. Is he supposed to be famous or something?"

"Yeah! K.K. Slider's only the famed wandering artist behind almost a hundred different songs! In fact, you may have heard some of his work! Pretty much anything with 'K.K." in the title, plus a few others. He also isn't really fond of clothes. Guess his fur is all he needs."

"So he's like a fuzzier version of Slash, basically."

"Haha! I guess you could say that! …But anyway, he likes to go from town to town and host DJ parties in the nighttime! And you just can't help but dance to his awesome music! But every Saturday, he does something a little different. He brings along his acoustic guitar and does live concerts! And whenever he does, he always takes requests! So Slash, Raina and I would come to whichever one of our towns he happened to visit and request songs all night long! Great thing about K.K. is that even when we ask for a song he doesn't know, he'll improvise stuff! …Which led to some creative-sounding song titles!"

"Like?"

"Oh, things like, 'K.K. needs clothes', 'I hate kitties', and… 'Slash's tiny skirt'!"

"That's… unique…"

"I know, right! And he never even batted an eye! Ah… good times…"

A few moments passed, with the sound several sword swipes and more rants from the fuchsia female echoing in the background. As… interesting as it was hearing Wildfire's mayor being called the offspring of a female dog, I kept the conversation going.

"Did Raina have any favorite songs?"

"Hmm… as a matter of fact, I think there was one in particular that she like listening to! I believe K.K. Stroll was the name!" My spiky-haired friend then paused briefly. "…You know, when she comes back, I think we'll ask K.K to perform a special concert to welcome her back! That song could be opening act! Wouldn't that be a great idea?"

"Yeah... I think she'd really like that!"

"ACHOO!"

Like Ground's mayor did not too long ago, the flame-haired youth flew back in our direction, narrowly missing us and landing in a rather thick pile of snow.

"Aw, m-man! J-just when I think I getting used to the c-cold!" He sat back up, shaking off clumps of snow stuck in his unkempt hairdo. "Think ya could tag back in, while I w-warm up a bit?"

"Sure thing! Tagging in!"

After my yellow-tied friend re-engaged the flowery foe before us, Slash shared another one of his stories as he rubbed his hands together to generate warmth.

"What story should I tell next… There's so many ones to tell! …Well… there was that one time…"

"Hmm? What time?" His more serious expression as he said those words certainly had me intrigued.

"You really wanna know?" The orange-haired kid took a deep breath. "…I suppose I'll tell ya then. Once again, it was night time, and we got together in my town, with the stars twinkling in the sky. It was getting late, almost midnight, if I recall, and we decided the three of us would sleepover at my town. We did many of the same things we always did, attended one of K.K.'s DJ parties at Club LOL, told each other scary stories, even did a couple rounds of truth or dare! For the record, that last one wasn't my idea, but it was still pretty fun. …But the most memorable thing about that night… was when we each shared secrets we never told anyone else before in our lives. …Now, now, I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no. I take secret-keeping very seriously, and I'm not gonna say a word about them! It's nothing personal, but I can't even tell you, Azure. However, that's not the point I'm trying to make. …My point is, that night, we confided in each other. We felt comfortable sharing things that, from the rest of the world, we kept hidden . That night, we put our complete trust in each other."

For a brief moment, I could see what looked to be a couple tears glistening in his eyes under the light of the afternoon sun.

"I'll admit it's not the most humorous story to tell, but I cherish it fondly nonetheless. …But enough stories for now! We gotta finish this!"

And on that note, we all charged back into battle.