Hey, guys. I'm so sorry it's been a while since the last chapter. Here's the latest one, which I thought would be partly annoying to write. However, it came out differently to what I had intended, and I quite like it. It's a bit short, but I hope you'll like it as well. :)

With a soft mumble, Kairi awoke the next morning. Having been in a deep sleep throughout the night, her eyes were only half open. Although she was feeling very tired, her mind was already wide awake, full of thoughts of having lunch with Sora – and wondering what they would do after they had eaten. Kairi was sure that Sora would not want her to leave as soon as they had finished their lunch. She did not know what they were going to do – but she was sure that it was going to be fun. A small, tired smile appeared on her face as her excitement grew.

Rising her arms above her head, Kairi stretched, gaining new energy for the day in the process. She threw the bed quilt off herself and sat up on the edge of the bed. She was dressed in her pink nightgown. She ran a hand through her red hair, using her free hand to rub her eyes, before turning to the dressing mirror, noticing that her hair had managed to stay straight while she had been asleep. She still felt the need to brush it, just to make sure she was presentable.

The hairbrush was resting on the wooden desk. Kairi stood up, walked over to the desk and picked the brush up by its handle. She stood in front of the mirror, then held the brush up to run the bristles through her hair, which was already straight and smooth without any tangles.

After running the brush through her hair ten times, Kairi turned around and placed the brush back down on the desk. She walked over to the cupboard, and as she opened the door to look for her clothes, something caught her attention.

Sitting in the left corner of the cupboard was a teddy bear. It was fairly small with soft brown hair. It was looking into space with black spherical beads for eyes. Beneath its round black nose was a small smile.

Kairi looked curiously down at the bear. It had been in the cupboard for years, but she had not taken notice of it since she had shut it up in there when she was nine-years old. She was now wondering why she was so interested in it, as well as how she had gotten it.

As memories flashed through her mind for the first in a long time, Kairi gasped in realization. Reaching down, she took hold of the bear and lifted it out of the corner it had sat in for years. Kairi stepped backwards and sat on the edge of the bed, unable to take her eyes off the bear's face. She had remembered how she had received it.

Kairi thought back to her fifth birthday. She could remember the day well: all of her friends were at her house, which had been decorated with balloons and banners reading 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY'. Sora had been the last guest to arrive, and when he had walked into the house with Nikkou following behind him, having been let in by the Mayor, he had been carrying a box that was wrapped up in pink wrapping paper and tied up with red ribbon. After walking over to an excited Kairi and wishing her some birthing greetings, he had handed her the present, which she hastily proceeded to open. Having untied the ribbon and ripping off the wrapping paper, she had found a box, inside which carried the teddy bear. With a face of delight, Kairi had quickly pulled the bear out of the box, squealing happily. She had not noticed Sora smiling upon how happy she was with her gift. She had hugged the bear tightly, and had then pulled Sora into an even tighter hug, whispering her thanks.

Still looking down at the bear, Kairi smiled softly at the memory. Over ten years had passed, and Sora was still the kind boy who always wanted to make her happy he had been back then. She had played with the bear whenever any of her friends were unable to play with her. The days of playing with the bear stopped shortly after her ninth birthday. After a few weeks of just sitting on the bedroom floor and being ignored, the bear had been picked up by a nine-year old Kairi, who had been tidying her bedroom, placed inside the cupboard and had since remained there. The cupboard door had continued to open and close over the years, but Kairi had never taken any notice of the bear, so it had never been taken out until now.

The smile on Kairi's face faded as she closed her eyes in shame. She hated herself for shoving the present Sora had given into her into the cupboard and not having anything more to do with it. It did not matter if she was too old to play with it. It had been the very first present the boy she loved had given her. He had told her that he had picked it himself, knowing that she would love it. He had been right, but when the feeling of being too old to have certain toys had kicked in, Kairi had just shoved it away into darkness. She was relieved that she hadn't thrown it into a garbage can for it to be taken to a dump; she would have hated herself even more if she had done so.

"I'm sorry, Sora," Kairi whispered quietly to the bear, gently stroking its left ear.

The bear's soft brown hair reminded her of Sora's own hair. She imagined the boy's head in front of her, and it was his spiky brown hair she was stroking. In place of the bear's black beads for eyes were Sora's blue eyes, which were looking into hers. Instead of a piece of thread for the bear's smile was a wide grin, which could only belong to Sora. It was the sort of grin he would give when he was forgiving his friends.

Kairi smiled softly, a small tear of happiness leaking out of her eye. Forgetting that she was holding a teddy bear instead of the boy she loved, she pulled the bear into a tight hug, closing her eyes, the smile on her face widening. She was very happy to have met a boy who did anything to bring a smile to her face.

Opening her eyes, she found herself facing the bear again, for the illusion of Sora's face had faced. She did not mind, for she was glad to have found the bear. The fact that it had been given to her by Sora made it very special, so she was going to look after it well. Standing up, she covered the mattress of the bed with the quilt, which she had thrown back, then lay the bear down on the bed, its head resting limply on the pillow.

The girl gazed happily at the stuffed animal for a few seconds, knowing that she would defiantly have to give Sora a present for his upcoming birthday that had to be as special as the bear. Turning to her cupboard, she began searching for her clothes to get dressed.

Kairi walked cheerily down the stairs after getting dressed and washed. She was, once again, wearing her mini-dress and halter top. Her shoes were sitting together at the foot of the staircase, and as she stepped off the bottom stair, she slipped her feet into them.

I'll have a quick breakfast, Kairi thought to herself, walking around to head towards the doorway to her kitchen, her feet in her shoes. Yhen I'll make sure I'm ready to go-

Stepping into the kitchen, the girl looked up at the clock – and froze in horror. The displayed time was ten to twelve.

Ten to twelve? Kairi thought quickly in a high amount of shock and disbelief. She placed her palms to each side of her head as her jaw dropped. I didn't sleep that late, did I? Oh no! Sora has lunch at twelve! I'd better get over to his house - now!

Racing towards the front door, only just managing to stop herself from running into it, Kairi dived her hand into her pouch and took out her key, having left them in there the previous night, due to thinking so much about Sora. She unlocked the door and dashed out, slamming it shut behind her. She started to race down the path in her garden, then ran back to her front door, realizing that she had not locked it.

Once she had secured the door, Kairi dropped the key back inside her pouch while running as fast as she could along the pathway. She went out through the gate, but forgot to close it behind her. Sprinting down the sidewalk, she passed a middle-aged man, who watched her running down the street, wondering why she was in a rush.

Stopping herself outside the gateway of Sora's house, Kairi ran along the garden path before coming to a stop outside the front door. She stood where she was, gasping for breath, placing a hand to her heart, which was now beating a lot faster than before. She was very thankful to live only a few doors away from Sora. Even if she had lived in the street next to theirs, she did not think she would have been able to make it before twelve.

Regaining breath, Kairi ran her left hand through her hair. Making a fist with her right hand, she was about to knock the door when it was suddenly opened from inside the house.

Sora was standing there in the doorway, his hand on the door's handle. He was looking at Kairi in as much surprise as she was at him. "Kairi? Are you alright? I saw you running here."

"Oh, Sora. I haven't long woken up. I didn't want to be late. I know you have lunch at twelve."

Sora chuckled with a snort, shaking his head in disbelief. "Kairi, you didn't have to rush over here. I said to come over at any time."

"Oh, well," Kairi grinned sheepishly, feeling very relieved as her cheeks turning pink, "the sooner I got here, the better."

Sora chuckled again, then with a soft smile, he stood back from the door. "Come on in, Kairi. Lunch is ready for us."

The girl nodded, feeling even more excited that her day at Sora's house had began. She stepped quickly into the house and Sora closed the door behind her.

And what happens while Kairi is over at Sora's house remains to be seen in the next chapter or two. ;)

Sorry that this was quite short. My chapters have been getting longer over time, and that's one reason why updates have been taking long. So I'm going to try to keep them more or less on the length of the earlier chapters, although some will probably still be as long as the more recent ones. I'll try to make the next one more or less on this length so that you won't have to wait so long for it. :)