"Everyone—quiet, Roxas. Everyone, I have an extremely important announcement to make," Namine called out, her bell-like voice rising. She pulled herself up on the coffee table, dodging the bags of chips and plates of snacks scattered across it, delicately balancing herself.
Everyone in the girls' living room peered up at the blonde girl, waiting patiently for her to deliver some news.
"As you all know," She explained, "Freedom Day comes once a year at the Academy."
Kairi frowned. "Freedom Day?"
Roxas, who was sitting beside her, explained. "The one day we're allowed down the mountain, back to the mainland. They bring in dozens of buses and take us down early, and we can spend all day as we please, no teachers watching over you or anything. As long as you make it back to the buses by midnight, you're good."
Kairi laughed. "Sounds fun."
Olette piped in from across the room. "We usually spend it shopping."
Roxas groaned. "Yeah, and you drag me along."
"Ahem!" Namine cleared her throat, once again focusing the attention on her. "Anyways, thanks to my lovely skills of deduction and sorcery, I have found from my sources that this years Freedom Day will take place tomorrow. It's supposed to be a surprise."
The girls—Kairi being the exception—let out excited squeals and glanced at each other wildly and started chatting very quickly about shopping for the upcoming winter formal dance.
"They're going to announce it at five o'clock today," Namine spoke happily, hopping off of the coffee table. "Make sure your up early tomorrow—I want to get as much shopping done as possible. Roxas, you're coming."
He groaned. "Shopping?"
"I need your opinion on outfits!" Namine cried.
Roxas sighed, but it was clear he was trying to hold back a grin. "Fine, fine, but you owe me big."
Kairi glanced at the clock on the wall, realizing that she was a bit late for her lunch date with Sora. She pulled herself up from her spot on the sofa, dusting off her pants. "I've got to run," She huffed, smiling at Olette as she walked past, "Studying and stuff."
"Kairi—it's Saturday. The Saturday before Freedom Day. You don't need to study."
She chewed on the inside of her cheek. "I'm behind in Latin."
Roxas laughed a little. "You study Latin every night."
"Drama, too. I'm lagging," She offered desperately, wanting nothing more than to escape the confines of her dorm building without a hassle and being with Sora. They hadn't hung out in two days—Aqua had begun to question where she always went, so Kairi had figured she should lay low for a while—and it had really started to take its toll on her. No Sora for two days other than drama class was sort of depressing.
"I thought you said you didn't get any homework in drama," Olette questioned.
Her friends' questions weren't all that weird—they were casual, light and not very intrusive—but due to Kairi's terribly lying skills and fear that her friends would hate her if they knew the truth, she began to jump to conclusions and thought her friends' questions more of an interrogation.
Her palms felt sweaty. "Yeah. Well. Um. He assigned some."
"Oh. Whaddya have to do?" Roxas asked, eating some candy from the bowl on the coffee table.
Kairi blinked; her face felt hot. "We—um—we have to read this one book." She sucked in a breath. "I have to find it. In the library."
"Oh!" Namine said, eyes widening. "I have to go to the library later today, pick up some books for fashion studies—I'll probably see you there. I'll look for you."
"No," Kairi hissed, heart hammering and palms clammy and forehead hot. "I mean—um, I'll probably be gone by then. I like to, um, walk around. The campus. I walk around the campus."
Everyone seemed frown at her odd behaviour, but didn't question it.
Roxas snorted. "You alright, Kairi?"
She grabbed her coat from the back of her chair and tugged it on. "Hm? Yes. Fine. Great. Good. Yes. Okay…see you guys." Desperate to escape before she could be any more obvious about her lies, she made her way out of the building quickly, occasionally glancing back to make sure they weren't following her. They weren't.
Once she made it to the Grand Library and swept past the many tables and bookcases—which were full today; it was early afternoon, much earlier than Sora and Kairi usually hung out, but she'd made her desperation to see him clear and he'd willingly obliged—she found Sora sitting on the ground in their dark little corner.
"I'm so sorry I'm late," She huffed, tossing her satchel down beside him and falling into an exhausted heap.
He had a dusty old book on his lap, but closed it and set it aside when she sat down. "You look rough," he laughed. "What happened?"
Kairi let out a loud sigh; her face was covered by her jacket and scarf, her words muffled. "Roomies ask way too many questions."
Sora grinned. "Did they corner you?"
"No. Not exactly." She sniffed, her nose runny from the cold. "They didn't even mean anything by it—they were just being friendly. But I'm terrible at acting and technically lying requires that skill, so I just sort of weirded them out and overcompensated. It's embarrassing, really."
His chuckle was deep and throaty and soft. "How are you not failing drama?"
"Mr. Hale hasn't made us act yet," Kairi sighed. "As soon as we do, my average will plummet."
"Maybe you'll learn how to lie," Sora offered hopefully.
Kairi craned her neck to peer up at him, a scowl on her face. "Don't make me hopeful."
"Sorry, sorry."
Kairi pushed herself up so that she was sitting across from Sora, her back against an old, rickety bookcase. "Whatcha wanna do today?"
His eyes seemed particularly bright today. "Can't really do much. We could get food from the café, then walk to our lighthouse."
Kairi nodded. "Sounds perfect, actually. Gets me away from the dormies."
The two gathered their things—Sora helped Kairi up, offering her one of his big hands—and they slipped out of the big, dusty library; they walked through the cold, down the cobblestone paths towards the café, situated beside the Centre. Once they got there, Sora ordered for both of them—they'd gone here enough for him to have Kairi's choices memorized—getting him a hot chocolate and a bagel, and for her, green tea and a slice of carrot cake.
They sipped from their drinks as they slipped away from the campus, making the trek to their lighthouse; once they finally got there, noses red and bodies convulsing with shivers, they huddled close together and ate their snacks. They chatted for the rest of the afternoon, comfortable and thawed out.
"Oh," Kairi said, pulling off her sweater, now too warm. "I forgot to tell you—tomorrow is Freedom Day, or whatever."
Sora's eyebrows lifted. "Tomorrow? Really?" He blinked. "Oh. Cool. You going?"
"Well, yeah—aren't you?" Kairi asked.
He made a face, then shrugged again. "Wasn't planning on it."
She hit him in the arm, frowning. "You're coming."
Sora's face flickered with doubt. "I don't think Freedom Day applies to me."
"Why?" Kairi frowned. "You're a student."
He brushed the topic off. "Yeah, but I don't really belong." Sora's expression twisted up oddly; it wasn't exactly a sad look—it sure as hell wasn't 'the sad' as Kairi had come to call it—but it definitely wasn't a happy one.
"Hey," Kairi nudged him with her elbow. "You belong just as much as anyone else does. You got in to the Academy, right? You belong."
Kairi's words did seem to ease his frown, but he let out a little laugh, a bit cold and a bit bitter, that made her think he didn't quite believe her. Before she could question it, he spoke, interrupting her thoughts.
"Not really. But," He huffed out, "I might go if you can persuade me."
She punched his arm.
He rubbed his arm in mock pain. "Ow. Didn't anyone ever teach you that violence isn't the answer?"
Kairi grinned. "Works pretty well for me. Have I persuaded you, yet?"
"Bully."
She snorted. "Wimp. Anyways—you have to come. Save me from a day of shopping with the girls." She paused, thoughtful. "And Roxas. Please."
Sora made a face. "I thought you liked your friends."
"I do," She insisted. "They're great. But I like you more—and I hate shopping. Come on, my little idiot, spare me from the pain."
He lifted an eyebrow. "Pain?"
"They'll make me try on heels."
Sora's lips pushed into a hard, straight line as he tried to suppress a smile. "Well, if you're gonna be in pain…" He trailed off, then grinned. "I'll come—as long as you don't ditch me."
"I would never."
A look of concentration and deep thought washed over his gaze, and for a moment, he appeared to be utterly confused. His brow furrowed and his forehead wrinkled, but his lips were twisted into a sly smirk.
Kairi made a face. "What?"
Sora looked at her, breaking out of his trance; his smile grew slightly. "Hm?"
"What're you thinking about?" She narrowed her eyes, recognizing the mischievous sparkle in his eye.
"Nothing," He shrugged, unable to wipe the grin off of his lips. "Wanna know something?" He asked, voice casual.
Kairi sighed, knowing he wouldn't reveal what he was thinking about, so she played along. She leaned back against the wall, eyes looking out at the darkening sky across the lighthouse. "Yes."
Sora looked out the same window, leaning his head against the girls shoulder. He liked this about their relationship; they were comfortable, easy. They could talk about anything. She made him better. "If there were ever a disaster or something," Sora spoke slowly, gently, "Like, a tornado or alien attack, I plan on coming to save you first."
"Oh, really?" Kairi smirked, leaning her head on his.
"Yeah. That'll be the first thing I do. Come find you."
"Alright, well, what do we do once you've found me?" She asked.
Sora thought about that for a moment. "We'd have to find shelter. And food, and water." He shrugged. "We'd come here, I guess."
"The lighthouse?"
"Yeah."
Kairi blinked, thinking it over, and then nodded in agreement. Of course they would come to the lighthouse—it was the safest place, their little sanctuary of warmth and light and happy. Nothing could ever touch it. There would never be any disturbances; it was a haven. She figured even the aliens would respect that.
"And then we'd live together, happily ever after?" Kairi joked, grinning.
Sora laughed. "I think I'd live happily ever after with you around."
Kairi's expression softened, and she leaned further against her spiky-haired boy. "I'd live happily ever after with you too, Sora."
They sat like that for awhile, but Kairi became a bit restless, and she managed to convince Sora to dance with her. She pulled out her ipod, set it on full blast to an energetic playlist and the two jumped around the lighthouse, laughing and giggling as they shared their dance moves. While Kairi's dancing was rather fluent and graceful, Sora pulled out the moves like the lawnmower and the shopping cart. He even did a beautiful rendition of the sprinkler. Kairi clapped as he danced, smiling so wide that her cheeks hurt.
Once they were completely wiped out from the dancing, they sat down and chatted some more. Then, when the sky was completely dark, they made the short hike back to campus. Sora, as per usual, walked Kairi to her building; Kairi mentioned that they should go to his place first next time, because she didn't know where his dorm was. They said their usual goodbye—'see you tomorrow?' 'see you tomorrow. promise.'—and then made a meeting spot so that they could sit together on a bus for Freedom Day. Kairi made her way into her building, getting thoroughly questioned by her friends for her wonky behaviour earlier, and Sora made his way back to his dorm.
When he got to his room, he didn't sleep. He was far too consumed by his excitement for tomorrow. He had a surprise planned, and it seemed to fill his veins with a buzzing anticipation.
Sora fell asleep smiling.