Hi, guys! :D My exams are finally over and I am finally out of school for good! :D That means I have plenty of time on my hands now and I can use that for updating this. I'm so sorry the updates have been taking so long. Now that I'm out of school, however, you can expect them to come much quicker. :)
Selphie and Tidus were sitting in the back seats of Mrs Tilmitt's small blue car, which she drove down a small narrow street where she lived with her daughter and often-working husband. It was within the same estate where Sora and Kairi lived, and was a lot closer to the beach of the main island. The most notable difference was that the houses here had been built with white limestone, instead of rich orange bricks. They still made the street as two rows, one on each side of the road that was filled with parked cars. In front of each house was a small, green, rectangular lawn with a white fence in front of it, and alongside side them both was a concrete driveway. While they looked very different to the houses on the street where Sora and Kairi lived, all of the houses here were still two-storeys high.
Mrs Tilmitt drove het car to the end of the street and steered it into the empty driveway of the house where she lived, which was on the end of the left side. She had expected the driveway to be free for her to park in, as her husband would not be home from his job for another few hours. Bringing the car to a stop, she pulled the handbrake up and placed the gearstick out of gear before switching off the engine. Taking off her seatbelt, she turned to look back at her daughter and the boy who was joining them. "Are you two coming in?"
Selphie looked out of her window up at the sky, which was now a bright orange, for the sun was beginning to sink. Selphie thought the sky looked lovely and she knew that would from the beach of the smaller island, as well. It would be a perfect time to go to there with the boy she secretly loved.
Turning to Tidus with a smile, Selphie took his hand eagerly. "Let's go to the beach, Tidus!"
Tidus' eyes widened and he looked down at Selphie's hand that was holding his. He blushed softly, smiling back at Selphie with a nod. "Alright then, let's go!"
"Be back before dark," ordered Mrs Tilmitt, opening the door to the driver's side. She stepped out of the car and closed the door gently behind her.
Selphie quickly unplugged her seatbelt to leave the car. As Tidus was just unplugging his, she tugged on his arm impatiently, wanting to race down to the nearby beach and get their boats. "C'mon, Tidus! Let's go! It'll be dark soon!"
"The sunsets here always stretch out for a long time, Selphie!" Tidus laughed, as Selphie dragged him out through the door on her side and pulled him away from the car, leaving the door wide open. She ran excitedly out of the driveway and down the sidewalk, holding the boy's hand tightly as she pulled him along with her.
Mrs Tilmitt sighed at her energetic daughter's impatience as she walked over to the door that had been left open, pushing it shut gently. She looked up to watch her daughter lead Tidus quickly around the nearby corner at the end of the street and vanish out of sight.
Sitting in the front of the boat which glided swiftly through the sparkling water and alongside the smaller island, Selphie smiled in amazement up at the sinking sun. It was still visible high up in the sky, positioned just over the horizon. She thought it would be very wonderful to get a chance to watch it sink from the beach with Tidus – who was sitting behind her, rowing the boat. The two of them had agreed, when they had reached at the beach on the main island, to travel to the smaller one together in the same boat. Since the evening they were boating through across the sea was so beautiful, they thought it would be a better thing to do than go in their own separate boats. Tidus was unable to take in much of the sunset yet, as he was the one who was rowing. He pushed the boat he and Selphie were sitting in through the salty water with the use of the two oars, looking down at his feet while doing so.
Selphie noticed that they were just about to pass the very end of the smaller island, which meant Tidus would have to row the boat to port to head towards the pier. She looked over her right shoulder towards the boy sitting behind her, shooting him a wide grin of excitement. "We'll have lots of fun on the beach, Tidus! We can play hide-and-seek! We can go exploring up the paths and bridges! We can watch the sunset-"
"Watch the sunset?" Tidus interrupted, looking back up at Selphie and returning a grin as wide as hers. He liked the sound of watching the sunset from the beach with the girl he spent a lot of time with by his side. Noticing that they were reaching the end of the smaller island, he stopped rowing with his left hand, but continued to do so with his right hand as he lowered his eyes back down towards his feet again. He knew the boat's front end would soon be pointing towards the pier.
"Yeah!" Selphie squealed happily, nodding towards Tidus and still grinning widely at him. She wanted him to row a little faster so that they would soon be standing together on the beach. "We're gonna watch the sunset! Just like Sora and-"
As Selphie turned her head away from Tidus to look ahead and see if they were looking towards the pier, her grin suddenly faded away and was replaced by an expression of surprise and panic. "Kairi?"
The way Selphie had said the name of the other girl who Tidus was good friends with did not sound right. Not understanding why and, the boy frowned as he stopped rowing, looking up in concern – to see exactly what had shocked Selphie. His jaw dropped as he began to grow suddenly stressed. They were a few metres away from the pier – and he could clearly see just as well as Selphie could that Kairi's small, narrow boat was tied to it. The sight of it had told him within a second that the fifteen-year old girl was most likely on the island.
"Kairi must have decided have come back here and wait for Sora again," Selphie wondered aloud, her face scrunching up with sympathy towards her red-haired friend. She looked over her shoulder towards the worried Tidus, hoping he would agree with what she was about to tell him. "We have to go and speak to her."
Tidus got rid of his troubled stare towards the boat that was tied to the pier to frown slight at Selphie. "But Sora said that he doesn't want you to tell Kairi that he has cancer. That's something he needs to tell her that himself."
"I know that, Tidus," Selphie insisted miserably, "We just need to speak to her. She must have been there for hours all by herself, waiting for Sora. She's probably feeling really upset. We're not gonna tell her why Sora hasn't been there. We're just gonna speak to her. This is something we need to do."
Tidus gazed up at the girl who was pleading him with the expression on her face that was difficult for him to take in. Letting off a sigh, he began to row with both ores once again towards the pier. A lot of worry was still going through his mind. He knew that if they did see Kairi on the island, the first thing she would ask them would be if she had seen the boy she was supposed to meet up with. Tidus had no intention of delivering the horrible news of what Sora was going through to Kairi – but he doubted lying to her (something which he had never done before) would be easily. He was also afraid that Selphie would be unable to hide the devastating secret from her for very long, even though she had told Sora she would not let it slip.
The boat the two fourteen-year olds were in was rowed up to the pier, on the starboard side of Kairi's. As soon as Tidus had brought it to a stop, Selphie took a small look towards the boat they were alongside before taking a quick jump into it, causing it to wobble slightly above the small waves that passed underneath it. The girl gazed worriedly at the nearby ladder with the same sad expression she had faced Tidus with. It was impossible for her to stop wondering if she would spot Kairi as soon as she would stand up on top of the pier.
While Tidus was starting to tie their boat to the wooden pier leg he was docking it in front of, Selphie reached out towards the ladder to take hold of each of sides with her hands. Placing one foot on the bottom wooden rung before the other, she started to climb, taking a few deep breaths at the thought of being about to see an upset Kairi and trying to comfort her. Selphie did not think she would be able to make the fifteen-year old girl feel better, as what had been supposed to make her very happy had failed to happen. The entire situation with Sora was a lot more terrible than Kairi knew – and she would not even be able to learn about it yet.
Reaching the top of the Ladder, Selphie pulled herself up. The wood of the pier creaked underneath her pair of brown sandals as she stood up straight. She peered down nervously towards the sand on the beach as she took a few steps forward – and her green eyes widened as what she had expected came into her sight.
Kairi was standing on the beach in the same spot as the day before, looking out towards the horizon. The sad expression on her face was easy for Selphie to see from on top of the pier, as were some of the tears that were falling down her cheeks, as many others had done throughout the day. Kairi's head lowered as she gazed down at her feet. Her expression was a little harder to see now, but Selphie could still easily tell that her friend was feeling upset and let down. She also knew exactly which person Kairi was feeling over this over.
Selphie could hear Tidus' quiet footsteps on each of the ladder's rungs. She managed to turn her head away from what was down on the sand below her to see the boy come up alongside her, standing on her left. He was looking towards where Kairi was standing, becoming just as saddened by how devastated she clearly was as Selphie had felt as soon as she had spotted her. The fourteen-year old girl saw the boy turn towards her with wide blue eyes and curved lips, as if he was silently asking her if she was sure about going to speak to Kairi while keeping the secret about Sora's cancer from her. Selphie just gazed back at him for a few seconds before walking along the pier towards the staircase that led down to the sand. She could hear the knocking of soles against the flat wooden surface as Tidus followed behind her.
Once she had led Tidus down the steps, Selphie turned to look towards the shore. She immediately spotted Kairi standing there in depression, her head still hanging low and her back to them. The fourteen-year old walked slowly along the sand, making her way up to the red-haired girl, feeling very concerned about her. "Hey, Kairi! Are you okay?"
Surprised by the sound of Selphie's voice, Kairi quickly reached up with her right hand to wipe away the tears that were leaking out of her eyes. Putting on a smile, she looked over her shoulder towards her worried friends, trying hard to hide her deep sadness from them. "Hey, guys. I'm okay."
Selphie knew instantly that Kairi was just trying to keep the hurt she was feeling over Sora from her. She was not used to this, for while he had been away for a year, she had always allowed the fifteen-year old girl to let her emotions that had been building up each day out in front of her. She glanced back towards Tidus - who was walking along the sand to join them – before reaching up to place a hand onto Kairi's shoulder. "Sora hasn't come, has he?"
Feeling the pain inside her heart growing, Kairi looked out at the sea again, not wanting Tidus and Selphie to see the fresh new tears that were starting to pour of her eyes and race down her cheeks. "He didn't come yesterday! He promised me that he would come and we would both have a lovely day together! But he didn't! I stood here, waiting all day, but he never came! I was really angry when I went home, but when I woke up this morning, I thought he would come today! So I stood here all day again, just like I did all day yesterday!"
Kairi buried her face into her hands, beginning to sob hard with all of the hurt Sora was putting her through. "But he never came! He broke his promise! Sora has never broken a promise to me!"
Selphie looked down sadly at her feet, feeling sorry for both Kairi and Sora. She knew that Sora had not deliberately broken his promise to Kairi and that he was feeling terrible for letting her down. She wondered if she should tell Kairi the very reason why Sora had not arrived to the smaller island and kept the promise he had made and meant.
Kairi quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks before turning to face them, her blue eyes shining. "I don't suppose either of you two have seen him, have you?"
"Yes, Kairi," Selphie said before she could stop herself. "We ha-"
"SELPHIE!" Tidus yelled in shock, his eyes wide and jaw hanging open. He was unable to believe Selphie had just slipped up and revealed to Kairi they knew where Sora was. He quickly went from worried to frightened, as he was sure he and Selphie – along with Sora – were in huge trouble.
"You've seen him?" Kairi's jaw dropped and she looked from Selphie to Tidus, desperate to know where Sora was, but unable to understand why Tidus had yelled at Selphie for saying she had seen him. "Where is he?"
"We don't know!" Tidus replied quickly, grabbing Selphie firmly by her hand and pulling her towards the staircase at the end of the pier. He dragged her along the sand as fast as he could, intending to get off the smaller island and away from Kairi. He glanced back in fear as he ran, seeing with scared eyes a shocked and angry Kairi.
"STOP!" Kairi yelled furiously after them, began to give chase across the sand. She glared hard at Tidus and Selphie as she raced after them, realizing now that they knew something about Sora they did not want her to know. "Come back here and tell me where Sora is!"
Tidus gasped for breath, but continued to run with Selphie in tow, reaching the pier's staircase. He quickly ran up them and was soon charging along the pier itself while pulling the fourteen-year old behind him. A quick glance down towards the sand below them told him – as he had guess and hoped would not happen – that Kairi was heading towards the steps. His panic was beginning to grow rapidly, as he was sure she would chase him and Selphie in their boats across the sea to find out did not want to find out where Sora was. He did not want to find out what would happen if they were caught.
"You know something about Sora which I don't!" Kairi roared angrily, looking away from the steps she was heading towards to shoot her deepening glare towards the two fourteen-year olds running along the pier. "Come back here and tell me right now where he is or-"
Before she could finish her threat, Kairi tripped on a small rock that she had not seen was lying in her path on the sand. With a huge cry, she fell down onto her front with a soft thump, weakly lying face down in the sand.
"KAIRI!" Selphie yelled loudly in panic, looking down in shock from the pier she was being dragged along towards where her friend was lying on the sand. "Tidus, stop!"
Tidus took no notice of Selphie and continued to pull her as quickly as he could along the pier until they were standing over where their boat was tied. Gripping Selphie's hand tightly, he took a large jump forward, pulling the shocked girl off the pier and causing her to land unprepared on her feet inside the boat. As the boat shook underneath them, Selphie, startled from the little fall, felt herself losing balance and stretched her arms out to stop herself from falling into the water. Tidus pushed hurriedly past her to untie the front end of the boat from the pier, wanting to row away from the smaller island as fast as his fear had risen.
The knot in the end of the rope that was tied around the leg of the pier became undone quickly. Tidus pushed past Selphie again and sat down in his head of the boat, facing away from her. To get away from the smaller island at a fast speed, he needed to be able to see where he was going – and he was also worried he would say something cruel to Selphie if he was saying her. With his trembling arms, he hastily picked up the two oars by their handles, splashed their blades down into the water and began to row forward quickly.
No longer taking in the sinking sun or the deep orange colour of the sky that was reflected in the ocean, Selphie gazed miserably over her shoulder at the island she was being rowed away from. Her friend was on the island, all by herself and feeling hurt. Despite still recovering from the fright she had shared with Tidus when Kairi had become angry with them and started to chase them, Selphie was still very upset over what the fifteen-year old girl was going through. She had just found out that Sora, the boy who had always managed to make her happy, was keeping a secret from her. That would be enough to make her feel sad. What the secret was and how terrible it happened to be, which she would eventually have to hear from Sora, was sure to make Kairi burst into tears and cry hysterically for endless hours.
The hull of Tidus' boat had eventually scraped through the soggy sand that the waves on the main island's empty beach were washing over. The boy had rowed there from the smaller island at a quick pace without looking back at Selphie or saying a word to her. He placed the oars down onto the base of the boat, which he climbed out of on its port side, stepping into the freezing cold water. He did not take any notice of the low temperature on his feet any more than he took in how the main beach was looking during the long-lasting sunset. His head was fixed towards the other boats that were being kept at the back of the beach. He took hold of his boat on its port side, intending to push it up to where the other boats were.
Selphie climbed out of the boat on its starboard side, which she took hold of as she stood in the waves, turning worried towards Tidus. The sadness she was feeling fell even lower as the boy she loved began to lead her out of the water and towards the other boats without looking back at her. He had not said a word to her while he had been rowing for the main island, yet he had been determined not to leave her with Kairi on the smaller one while they had been chased. Selphie knew the very reason for Tidus' behaviour. What she had almost said to Kairi was wrong. She was beginning to feel very afraid again, for she was sure the reason why Tidus was ignoring her was because he was very angry with her.
They did not have too far to walk along the beach towards the boats. The tide was just coming in, and it would go even further over the next few hours. It would never reach the spot where the boats were sitting. None of them moved as Tidus and Selphie pushed the boat they had used to travel together across the sea to the smaller island and back to the nearest end of the row.
Selphie let go of the boat's side, running her sad eyes slowly over the other ones. The only boat that was not present in the row was the one that was much narrower than the rest, for it was still on the smaller island with its devastated owner. Tears began to form in Selphie's eyes as she looked over the other boats, for even though they were all identical, one of them belonged to a good friend of hers, who had been diagnosed with cancer, as she had been told a few hours ago. She was very frightened of losing him - and she knew that the person who he was the closest to more than anyone else would be feeling the exact same way. Selphie gazed up towards Tidus, hoping he would notice how upset she was and say something to comfort her. The boy stood where he was in silence, letting go of the side of the boat and not turning to look at her over his shoulder. Thinking that he was now going to ignore her for the rest of the night, Selphie looked down again in misery, taking a few steps forward to walk away from him, meaning to leave the beach behind and head for her house.
"Oi! Selphie!" Tidus suddenly snapped furiously, looking up towards the girl with a red face. "What did you go and tell Kairi about Sora for?"
Freezing where she was at the sudden sound and tone of Tidus' voice, Selphie turned to look timidly over her shoulder towards him. Her eyes were filling up with tears and fear. "I thought…it was the right thing to do..."
"SORA TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL KAIRI!" Tidus bellowed loudly and angrily at her at the top of his voice. He waved his arms about madly, unable to realize how he was acting as he glared at her. "HE SAID HE WOULD TELL HER HIMSELF! AND YOU STILL TOLD HER! WHY DID YOU TELL HER?"
"I…I…" Selphie dropped her face in her hands, beginning to sob softly. She was now feeling very terrible for what she had nearly done, and she was expecting Kairi, Sora and Tidus to all hate her. "I'm sorry, Tidus…I'm so sorry…"
Realizing he had upset her, the glare and redness on Tidus' faded away as he stared at Selphie with sudden shock and regret over his own behaviour. Walking up quickly to where she was standing and sobbing, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, feeling very guilty as he closed his eyes. He could feel Selphie shaking as she hugged him back, crying bitterly. He held her tightly and stroked her soft, brown hair gently to comfort her.
There was nobody on the beach of the smaller island to comfort a crying Kairi. She lay on her front, letting the tears fall out of her eyes and onto the sand. She felt very hurt and alone over the fact that the boy she loved and had thought was her best friend did not want to see her. He was keeping something from her, and it was clear to her that he did not want her to know about.
She was dying to know what it was.
Well, there's the newest chapter. You can expect the next one very soon, but I may have to take my time, because I need to make sure it's very good and you will all like it.
