On the morning of Freedom Day, Kairi's blissful sleep was rudely interrupted by the sounds of shouting and arguing out in the hallway; the lights from the rest of the house were on, a dim glow entering Kairi's room. Knowing she'd never be able to get back to sleep with her roomies yelling at one another so loudly, she put on her slippers and wrapped a blanket around herself, stepping out of her room to see what the cause of the ruckus was.
She was surprised to see that there wasn't much of a problem, not like she'd expected. The yelling was due to the girls all fighting and elbowing one another as they crammed into the washroom, all attempting to get mirror space so that they could do their makeup and hair. Kairi, groggy and tired, asked them what they were doing, and they all seemed shocked that she wasn't awake or ready yet. Apparently, they were getting on the first bus down to the city, one that arrived at six in the morning. Namine explained their gameplan, where they would hit every big store and only have three five minute breaks in between. Kairi told them she'd take one of the later buses down—although, she failed to mention that she wouldn't be spending her day with them. Something told her this wasn't the way to go about explaining her friendship with Sora.
Kairi made her way downstairs to the kitchen, having a bowl of cereal whilst chatting with Roxas, who sat in a chair and was face-down into the island countertop. By the way he spoke, she could tell that he was exhausted—he'd mentioned that Namine had made him stay up with her all night to create their big shopping gameplan—and that he wasn't looking forward to the shopping. When she'd asked him why he was even going if he hated shopping so much, he stated only a single word response. Namine.
Soon enough, all of the girls were down in the kitchen, all dressed and done up for the day. They were running out of time—they had to be at the main hall in ten minutes—so they hurriedly stuffed food into their mouths, fighting over the scraps of whatever was left in the pantry. Namine spent her ten minutes convincing Roxas to eat something; when he ate a piece of toast, the group was off, running for the bus, leaving Kairi alone in the dorm.
Slowly but surely, Kairi managed to wake up a bit; she showered, got dressed—in normal clothing, no uniforms—and finished her bowl of cereal. She lounged around for a bit, watched some television and read over a few of her notes before she realized that it was nearly time to meet Sora for the second bus.
When she made it around to their bench—the place where they usually met—and her eyes landed on the spiky-haired boy peering down at a book, dressed in a Henley that matched his eyes, she couldn't help but break out into a wide grin.
"Hey, cutie," She huffed, sitting down beside him; he peered up, surprised by her presence. "Look at you, reading and stuff."
He laughed. "Believe it or not, stupid kids like to read, too."
Kairi frowned. "You're not stupid—I've always known you were a scholar."
"Oh, really?" Sora's lips stretched into a smirk; he seemed caught up in her gaze, like he was trapped in place by a spotlight.
"Really," She nodded. "So—ready to hit the bus?"
Sora nodded, grabbing his backpack placed beside him and putting his book away. "Sure. But, I've got to warn you about something."
Kairi raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"We aren't doing any shopping."
She shrugged as they began to walk towards the main hall. "That's okay. What'll we do—be tourists?"
"I have something planned," Sora replied, not meeting her eyes as they trotted along. The wind that whipped through the campus was cool and bitter, biting through their jackets. Both teens were anxiously anticipating the better weather down, off the mountain. It would be like a breath of fresh air.
"Something planned?" Kairi questioned. "Can I get a hint?"
"Hmm—it has something to do with…screaming."
"Screaming." Her cheeks turned red, the heat crawling up her neck before she even had the chance to prevent it.
Sora nodded. "Don't think of it in a gross way, you little perv."
Kairi laughed. "I'm not thinking of it like that. Get out of here."
He snickered. "You're blushing."
She covered her cheeks. "I am not!"
Sora sighed dramatically. "Little Kairi, so pure, so innocent. Tainted by the idea of me making her scream." He shook his head. "Tragic, really."
Kairi's cheeks got hotter and she shoved his arm playfully. "You're gross."
Sora seemed incredibly pleased with how red her face was. The closer they got to the main hall, the more noticeable the big bus outside of it was; the crowd outside of it was rather small—probably ten people, tops—and they boarded easily, with seats to spare. People seemed to pay slight attention to Sora and Kairi, who chatted and laughed in their seats the entire way down the mountain, but the two easily ignored them. They didn't even notice; they were far too caught up in one another.
The ride took about an hour and a half, but it flew by for Kairi and Sora; their conversation was quiet, just loud enough for them to hear. At first, they sat close together, giggling and telling stories; eventually, as the drive progressed, Kairi's legs ended up being tossed over Sora's, sprawled over top of him.
Once they'd made it down the mountain and hit the city, Kairi was off of Sora again, eyes staring out of the window in awe. It wasn't that she'd never seen the big city before—she'd passed through it on her way to the Academy—but she'd never really been able to experience it. Now, they were driving directly through the heart of the city, where all of the big theatres and stores and cultural landmarks were. Compared to her little hometown, this was everything. She loved it.
Sora, on the other hand, seemed to be completely mesmerized by her. Rather than look at the window as well, his eyes were stuck on the auburn haired girl beside him; the awe and amazement in her eyes made his lips twist up into a smile, and he found himself struggling to stifle the fluttering in his chest.
The bus pulled to a stop in the parking lot of the Destiny Islands Grand Museum, and all of the kids stumbled off of the bus, reeling with excitement. The driver gave them the small spiel, telling them when to return to the buses—midnight—and to be safe. Then, they were completely alone in the big city without a soul watching over them or restricting them. The crowd dispersed, leaving Sora and Kairi at its centre.
Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Gonna tell me what your plans are, yet?"
Sora made a face. "Nah. It's a surprise."
"We're already here—tell me."
He wiggled his eyebrows, grabbing Kairi's hand and tugging her along gently. "That's the thing though," He replied, tone dramatically mysterious, "We aren't there."
Sora pulled her along to the curb, then waved his hand; quickly, a taxi pulled up alongside them and they hopped in, slamming the door behind them. Sora mentioned a location that Kairi was unfamiliar with, and the taxi sped off, the city blurring by outside the window. They drove for ten minutes, getting stuck in a bit of traffic, but eventually made it to their destination. Sora paid the driver and they scooted out of the car.
Kairi peered up excitedly, and was surprised and slightly disappointed to see that they were at the train station.
She made a face, trying to hide her dismay. "Gee. This is really nice of you, Sora."
Sora shook his head, laughing at her. "We aren't there yet, dummy." Again, he grabbed her hand—this time, intertwining their fingers—and pulled her along. They passed through the doors, walking beneath the large SUNSET STATION sign that hung above.
He bought two tickets to another place Kairi hadn't heard of, and lingered about until their train had arrived; when the bell rang and the voice over the intercom announced their train, they made their way over to the boarding station and hopped on. The train ride seemed to go by slow for Kairi, probably due to the suspense; she was bad with surprises.
When they finally arrived at their destination and got off the train, Kairi seemed to understand why Sora had taken her here. They left the station building, walking down a long, twisty road, eventually leading them to a hill overlooking a beautiful scene below.
There was a beach, the sand glistening in the hot afternoon sun; the water was blue, each wave cresting with pretty white foam, speckled with people and stands selling food and balloons. On the right side of the beach, there was a huge fair; a large rollercoaster dipped and dived amongst the pale sand, lingering beside a ferris wheel and dozens of other rides. People walking around held balloons and cotton candy, smiling wide; the places was scattered with red-and-white striped tents, each one labelled with a circus act that lay inside. The air was thick, filled with happiness and laughter and cheers of excitement.
Kairi's face lit up with complete and utter joy. "Screaming," She nodded, amazed.
"Not as dirty as you first thought, is it?"
Her blue eyes flickered up to his. "We're spending the day here?"
"If you want," Sora nodded, smiling. "If not, we can head back whenever. Doesn't matter to me."
Kairi blinked, her gaze turning back to the scene below her, on the beach. She deliberated for a moment, and then glanced back to the boy beside her. "We're staying." This time, she reached out and grabbed his hand, dragging him down the hill towards the sand.
The two wandered around the fair for a small bit, trying to decide on what to do first; when Kairi found out that Sora had never had cotton candy before, she immediately pulled him to a cotton candy stall and bought them both sticks of it, making sure she watched Sora's first taste. After he confirmed he liked it—he was lying; he thought it felt weird, but the way she grinned up at him made it easy to hide his disgust—they moved on, towards the rides. Sora made Kairi go on the big rollercoaster, much to her discontent; she screamed the whole time, nearing tears by the end, and eventually just stuffed her face in his chest and slammed her eyes shut. After that, Kairi prohibited any scary rides for at least an hour; instead, she chose one of the rides that spun a lot. Sora felt like he could hurl afterwards, but he didn't mind. He thought it was worth it.
Then, they made their way towards the game stalls; Sora easily won Kairi a toy dolphin and she held onto its fin as they walked about, happy as could be. They went into a few of the circus tents, seeing animals juggling and watching the Freak Show—it had a bearded lady, a man who could disappear and reappear several feet away, and a red-headed guy who summoned fiery chakrams. He could throw flames across the room, which nearly torched one tourist; the red-haired man simply smirked, and then disappeared in flames in the middle of the tent.
Then, they went through the haunted house, much to Sora's pleasure. Kairi screamed the entire time, clinging to Sora and nuzzling her face into his shoulder whenever a ghost or demon would pop out at them—not that he minded. He'd wrap his arm around her shoulder and hold her tight whenever something screamed at them, laughing at how terrified she seemed. By the time they'd reached the end, Sora was thoroughly surprised that Kairi was near tears; he bought her a balloon in hopes of making it up to her. She chose out a red one, and he tied it around her wrist.
Clinging to her dolphin toy and the red balloon billowing out behind her, Kairi walked around the fair with Sora dozens of times, unable to choose which ride to go on next. They'd tried a couple of them—the spider, the zipper, the house of mirrors, go karts—but hadn't found one they'd wanted to go on repeatedly yet. When Sora mentioned the big roller coaster again, Kairi hit his arm, simply shaking her head to show her disapproval. They went on a few more rides as the afternoon turned into evening, but eventually settled on the one ride they hadn't tried yet.
The Ferris wheel.
Kairi, in all of her years, had only been to a fair once; it had been in a town a few hours away from her little village, and it had been small and plain. This fair, however, was incredibly grand; as the sunlight dimmed, twinkly lights that were strung above the entire place lit up, giving the entire beach a golden glow. This was her first ride on a Ferris wheel.
The line for the Ferris wheel was nonexistent—apparently, it wasn't a very popular ride—and Sora and Kairi boarded it instantly, being the only people on it. The carnie conducting the ride seemed relieved that someone had wanted to go on it, promising them to give them as long a ride as they wanted.
Almost instantly, Kairi's body froze completely; as they rose up, higher and higher, the sunset over the ocean in front of them became even more spectacular. Every muscle in her body tightened, stiffening; she felt her throat clench and close up, her breath becoming shallow.
At first, Sora didn't notice. "This place is so—" He turned to look at Kairi, words cutting off violently as he saw her expression, noticed the wetness in her eyes. "Woah—you okay?"
People must have noticed them on the Ferris wheel and decided to join in; the wheel stopped—their cart swung a bit, leaving them hanging at the very top—as others hopped into their cart below.
Kairi sniffed, nose runny.
Sora frowned. "Are you scared of heights?" He asked, worried. He'd thought this ride would be fun…
"No," She whispered back, tearing her eyes off of the pink sunset to look at him. "No, it's not that."
He didn't seem to understand. "What is it?"
Kairi's eyes seemed to reflect the golden pink of the sunset as she looked back at it. Now, the wetness in her eyes had formulated into something; a simple tear rolled down her cheek as she looked over the water, sniffling. "It feels like I'm at home," She whispered gently. "Like I'm up in my attic, watching the sunset. It feels the same."
Sora's blue eyes dropped to his feet for a moment. "That's why I brought you here," He shrugged. "I know you've been homesick, so I figured seeing the ocean would make you feel better." He looked at the tears slipping down her cheeks with a slight frown. "Guess not."
Kairi laughed a little, shaking her head. "These are happy tears, dummy."
Sora made a face. "They look the same as sad tears."
"They're different," She huffed, wiping her cheeks and trying to get a hold of herself. She blinked, looking at him. "How did you know I was homesick?" The wheel began to spin again and they swooped down, revolving.
He shrugged and swallowed, and she could see his adam's apple bob. "Whenever we go to the lighthouse—I see the way you look at the ocean, even from all the way up there. And how you talked about your little town." He shrugged again. "Seems like the sort of place someone would miss."
It surprised her how much he'd been paying attention. "So, you did this just for me?" She wiped under her eyes again.
Sora blushed, then shrugged again. "It's no big deal," He glanced down, as if looking away from her would prevent her from seeing how hot his face was. "I thought it would remind you of home."
Kairi looked at him, feeling both happy and sad all at once. "You remind me of home," She murmured, looking back at the golden water.
"I do?"
"Yeah—you're like my ocean." She paused, smiling to herself as the memories of her home flooded back to her, all of them reminding her of Sora. "You're calm and you're happy and warm and you're always there."
A flicker of amusement flashed onto Sora's face—he'd never thought of describing himself in that light before—but it quickly wiped away, revealing a bit softer of an expression.
An ache ripped through Kairi's heart, one that made her realize how terribly she missed her dad and her tall, little house and her island. She missed her sunsets and her beach and her ocean, and she missed the way everyone knew one another in her town and how school wasn't much pressure. She missed sitting at home watching sports on television with her dad when it was late, and watching the lightning storms over the ocean from the front porch. But, as she realized how sad she was and how badly she missed them, she realized that she had one thing that made it better. She had one thing that didn't make missing her home all that bad. She had Sora, her boy with the ocean eyes, the ones that made her feel like she was home.
"Thank you," She said, looking back to him. "For bringing me here and making me laugh and spending your time with me and not caring about grades or being a B or an A or an above, or whatever. And thanks for studying with me even when you didn't want to, and thanks for not missing any drama class and thanks for being my partner, and—"
"Kairi!" Sora laughed, big hands gently gripping her shoulders. "It's okay. You don't have to thank me."
She blinked. "Why not?"
"Because," He grinned at her, ocean eyes sparkling and twinkling in the dim light of the setting sun. "I get more out of it than you do. Trust me."
"You know," Kairi sighed, settling back into their seat. "I really like you."
Sora tried to hide the fact that his insides were bursting with happiness. "Gross," He shot back sarcastically. When Kairi gawked and hit him in the arm, he laughed. "Kidding, kidding—I like you, too. Even when you make me study."
Unable to contain her gratefulness for him, she let out a sigh and pressed her forehead to his neck, cuddling into him. She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Thank you."
For a split second, he seemed caught off guard; quickly, he composed himself and his big hands slid around her waist, holding her weight carefully. One wrong move, and the cart would tip, dumping them out with it. "Thank you, too," He whispered back, voice gravelly and warm. After a second, he frowned. "You're not gonna cry again, are you?"
Kairi laughed. "No, I think I'm okay."
"Good," He replied, relieved. "I can't handle tears."
"Why not?"
He seemed to think about that for a moment. "I just think someone like you should be smiling all the time. No sad faces."
Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Someone like me?"
"Yeah—happy and light and beautiful." The words rushed out of him quickly, and only after they'd been said did he seem to realize what he'd spoken. He flinched. "I mean—just don't be sad, okay? Everything's better when you're happy."
Kairi's cheeks got warm; she leaned back. "You shouldn't be sad, either."
Sora's eyes fell a little bit—as they usually did whenever his sad was mentioned—but in a more thoughtful sort of way. His long eyelashes fluttered as he blinked, and he glanced down quickly, then back to Kairi. "It's getting better. You make it better."
Although this was new, having Sora actually acknowledge his sadness, Kairi got the feeling that prodding him about the causes of it were still off limits. His walls were still up, but she was close to finding the door that would let her through them. The timing just wasn't right, not yet.
The Ferris wheel turned, bringing them to the very bottom; the carnie smiled at them, asking them if they wanted to keep going or to get off. Sora said they'd get off, telling Kairi that they had one more very important thing to do while here.
He grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers, and gently pulled her along across the entire boardwalk. They walked along it until there weren't any more red tents alongside them, until the twinkly lights dwindled into complete darkness; they were on the far, deserted side of the beach, out of hearing range from the crowd beneath the lights, enjoying the fair.
"Here," Sora said, pulling them to a stop. On this side of the beach, over the hillock, everything was dark and calm; the only sound was the lull of the waves hitting the shore, gently lapping against the rocks and the sand.
Kairi turned to him, every nerve in her body electric when she realized that their hands were still delicately intertwined. She blinked, not understanding. "Here?"
Sora nodded and lightly let go of her hands. "We're swimming."
Her eyes widened. "Swimming?"
He pulled off his sweatshirt, revealing his toned stomach. "Swimming."
"Sora, it's dark," Kairi pointed out.
"Don't tell me you've never swam in the dark."
"Was never allowed," She shrugged. "Usually I just snuck out and listened to the waves."
"Well," Sora smirked, pulling off his shoes, "It's your lucky day—we're night-swimming."
"I don't have a bathing suit!"
He made a face. "Who cares?"
Kairi's eyes widened even more. "There is no way I am skinny dippi—"
Sora snorted. "Kairi. Relax. Just take off your shoes and wear your shorts and tank top. You can wear my sweater home."
She frowned, then peered out at the dark, beautiful water; the waves sounded just like they did at her house, somehow loud like a roaring river and quietly soothing at the same time. She felt compelled to oblige, to feel the water around her just like she did at home; the water looked cool and slippery, enticing. She scrunched her face together, then kicked off her shoes. "Ugh—fine."
Sora grinned. "Hah. I knew you were brave."
Kairi glanced at him, then ran off towards the water. "Last one to the water is a big fat loser!" She giggled as she ran away, her steps slow and short in the slippery sand.
Sora laughed, easily catching up to Kairi with his long strides; he wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her slightly, putting him in the lead and placing her behind him.
"Not fair!" She cried.
"You didn't say there were rules!" He called back, splashing into the water quickly and diving under as soon as he hit the deeper patch of it. The water was cold, but it felt nice; he surfaced quickly, shaking the water from his hair. When he looked back, he found Kairi still at shore, her feet not touching the water. "C'mon, Kairi."
She was looking down at her feet, watching the waves reach out for her toes but never quite crossing the gap. Kairi looked up, seeing the grinning boy in the waves calling to her, and then back down to the water. It seemed like some odd sort of barrier to cross—like putting her feet in the water with Sora was opening a new door. She felt as though as soon as she did touch the water, she'd be hooked on this boy, unable to let go of him.
"Kairi," He laughed, "Don't be grump just because you're the big fat loser."
Grinning, she stepped into the water, gladly accepting whatever fate she was given, as long as it had Sora in it.
They splashed around for a bit—although, it took Kairi at least twenty minutes to work herself up to going completely underwater—wrestling and tossing water at one another. After that, they'd gone in search for pretty shells and rocks; they'd given up on that idea quickly, though, because it was far too dark to see anything. For the most part, they just swam around, chatting like they usually did; Kairi was in particularly high spirits, regarding that day as one of her top three.
Once the evening grew later and the wind picked up a bit, Kairi got a bit cold; every wave that hit her feeling like icewater, she climbed up onto Sora's shoulders and clung to him. His hands grasped her thighs to steady her and keep her from falling, which sent her heart into a bit of a frenzy, although she dismissed it as hyperthermia.
Eventually, though, they both knew it was time to go. They went back on shore and gathered their things—Sora gave Kairi his sweatshirt; she hid around the small cove and tore off her wet shirt, pulling Sora's sweater over top. They grabbed their shoes, and Kairi grabbed her dolphin that Sora had won for her—she'd lost her balloon at one point during the day—and made their way back up across the road to the train station. They boarded their train quickly, without a problem, and chatted the entire way; once they'd returned to the big city, they had to quickly rush to their bus to make it in time.
Once on the bus, everything slipped into a calm lull. Every passenger on the bus was exhausted from whatever it was they'd done all day, and so it was filled with quiet conversation; Kairi tried her best to stay awake and talk with Sora, but her yawns eventually got the best of her and she drifted off, cheek smushed up against Sora's bare shoulder as she leaned on him.
When the bus stopped in front of the main hall at the Academy, Sora gently woke Kairi up; they grabbed their things and stumbled off of the bus, dazed and exhausted. Kairi, in her groggy state, mentioned something about how she was glad they had tomorrow off; the Academy always booked the day after Freedom Day off for kids to recover from their long hours of freedom.
Knowing that their incredible day had to come to an end sometime, Sora walked Kairi back to her dorm. They chatted quietly, but were for the most part quiet; Kairi was far too tired to handle any long conversations. They had to walk quickly; they were back up on the mountain in the chilly weather, and Sora was half nude due to giving Kairi his sweatshirt.
When they arrived in front of her building, she turned to him and mumbled something about giving his sweater back the next day. He stopped her, though, and told her to keep it; he said that it could be another keepsake of their day at the beach. They chatted a bit more—although, Kairi could see his lips turning blue from the cold—and then they said their usual goodbyes.
This time, before leaving, Kairi stepped in close and gave Sora a kiss on the cheek. She turned and left before she could see his reaction, too shy to glance back; she pulled open the door and stepped in, the warmth blanketing her immediately. When Kairi glanced out of the window, Sora was gone, probably running back to his dorm freezing his ass off.
As per usual, she was met with a number of questions by her roomies: they asked her where she'd gone, why she didn't show up to shop with them, why her hair and clothes were wet. She explained that she'd been invited by some kids she didn't know to go to this beach fair—again, this wasn't the time to tell them about her secret friendship with the boy they despised—and that they'd had a great time. Too tired to answer anymore questions, she made her way upstairs to her bedroom and slipped into her pajamas, and hopped into bed.
After a moment of hesitation, she grabbed Sora's sweater and pulled it on, cuddling into it as she fell into a gentle sleep, smiling at the smell of him. Her lips felt tingly where she'd kissed his cheek.
It was the second night she dreamt of Sora.
