Sorry its been so long since the last update. I'm not dead. I've just been very busy lately (mostly thanks to my new job). Here's the new chapter. I hope it's alright.
Delighted to have been brought to Twilight Town, Kairi raced back to Sora to throw her arms around him once again. She smiled softly as she closed her eyes, ever grateful that the boy she loved was spending so many days making her happy and giving the two of them lots of fun. Kairi felt her heart beating fast as Sora hugged her back. She was feeling very happy. "Thank you, Sora. Thank you for bringing me here."
Smiling upon seeing Kairi happy with the world he had taken her to, Sora reached up to run a finger through the girl's hair. "It's okay, Kairi. I'm glad you're happy that I've brought you here."
"Of course I'm happy that you've brought me here. As long as you're with me, Sora, anywhere I go is wonderful." Kairi pulled away to look up at the bright orange sky, her smile widening at how beautiful she thought it looked. "And you're right about Twilight Town. It really is a lovely place for the two of us to visit. I didn't get much of a chance to admire its beauty."
"Now you can." Sora placed his hand on Kairi's shoulder as he smiled down at her. "The two of us can. We have the whole day to do that."
Kairi looked over her shoulder to grin up at Sora. Reaching into her pouch with her left hand, she pulled her camera out. Turning around, she took a few steps backwards as she held the camera up in front of her, aiming it at Sora so that he, along with the Gummi Ship and the orange sky, appeared on the screen. "Smile, Sora."
Sora gave the girl a large grin, braced to have his photograph taken. He felt a little nervous, as he did not think he would look good in a photograph, and he did not want to ruin one that Kairi was to take.
After pressing the button on top of the camera, Kairi smiled at the picture she had just taken of Sora. She held the camera closer to her so that she could get a better look. As she had wanted, the picture showed the body standing in the middle of the road, the clouds floating above him in the orange sky with the Gummi Ship standing behind him.
"Come and look at the picture, Sora." Kairi turned the camera around in her hands so that the screen was facing Sora, who took a few steps forward to see the picture. "What do you think?"
Sora grinned bashfully. He did not think he looked very good in the picture, but he still thought it looked nice. "You take a lovely picture, Kairi."
"Thanks," Kairi smiled, turning the camera in her hands again to look at the picture she had taken. "And you look lovely in this picture."
"Do I?" Sora gazed at Kairi in disbelief, feeling touched by her words.
"Of course you do!" Kairi looked up at the boy with a small frown, although the corners of her mouth were twitching, as she was trying not to smile so that she would appear to look angry. "How can you say that, Sora? I wanna take lots of pictures of you while we're here."
As he could tell she was not really angry with him, due to her trying not to smile, but making it obvious she wanted to, Sora chuckled softly. He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, don't waste all of your pictures of me, Kairi. You need to go in some as well."
Kairi looked down at the camera in her hands, a small smile on her face. She was just as modest as Sora about how she looked in photographs. She wanted to have some taken of her, as that was what Sora wanted, but she was sure she would not look good in them. She had no idea that Sora thought she always looked beautiful, both in photographs and in person.
Sensing how nervous Kairi was feeling, Sora put his arm around her shoulders. She looked up at him in surprise, blushing softly, noticing he was grinning kindly down at her. "I want a picture of the two of us," he said.
"You do?" Kairi's cheeks went from light pink to deep red. She had not expected such a request from Sora.
"Well, that is, only if you want." It was Sora's turn to blush as his grin disappeared, his face now having a worried expression. He did not know if Kairi liked the idea of having her picture taken with him.
The look on his face quickly changed to one of surprise as the girl hugged him around the torso. Kairi was grinning excitedly and happily. "Of course I'd love a picture with you, Sora! That would be so wonderful!"
Sora hugged the girl back, his smile returning. "Where shall we have it taken? There are lots of lovely places here which would be good to take it at."
Breaking the hug, but taking Sora's hand, Kairi looked down towards the bottom of the slope they were standing on. "Let's have a look around. I'm sure we will find somewhere nice. As I said, I didn't really have a chance to admire this place. When we find the best place to take the picture, we'll ask someone to take it for us."
The boy nodded in agreement before beginning to walk down the slope, pulling the girl along gently as he squeezed her hand. They reached the bottom of the slope and stood on the spot, taking in the sights of the area. There were not many people in sight, but there were lots of brick buildings standing. One building had an icon of a white dress above its entrance, while another had a yellow base with a pink stripe going around it, and above its entrance were neon lights that were shaped like candy. Tramlines had been built along the paved ground, used daily by several trams to carry passengers around the town, whether they wanted to go shopping or just enjoy the beauty of Twilight Town from the seat of a tram.
Sora and Kairi were surprised that very few people were about, but Kairi thought that what they could see from where they were standing would make a nice picture, and would not have been as good if the area had been crowded. Raising her camera up in front of her, she pressed down on the button, capturing what was out in front of her into the memory of the camera. She showed the picture on the screen to Sora, who smiled at how lovely he thought it was, although he knew that a picture of the town would not be as beautiful as a picture of Kairi.
Putting the camera back into her pouch, Kairi took hold of Sora's hand. They took a few steps forward, but stopped with surprise at the sound of a loud, cheery voice.
"Hey, Sora! Hey, Kairi!"
The two fifteen-year olds looked to their right, where the voice was coming from. They both shared a wide grin, for they could see Pence running towards them from behind the shop with the neon candy lights. As usual, the chubby fifteen-year old boy with a wide friendly smile was wearing a black headband with grey stripes around his messy black hair, along with his red sleeveless jersey with 'DOG STREET' in large white letters along the side, next to a black symbol of a demon dog with bones. Pence was also wearing his baggy blue jeans, white long-sleeved shirt and his pair of blue and white trainers. He stopped on front of Sora and Kairi, his brown eyes brightening at the sight of his two friends.
"Hi, Pence," Kairi grinned happily at the chubby fifteen-year old boy. "Been a while since we last saw you."
"And I was very much hoping we'd see you," Sora added with a smile. "I was also hoping we'd see-"
"Pence!" A grumpy male voice suddenly called out from nearby. "Where are you? Why did you run off in a hurry like that?"
"There he is," a female voice added. "Oh, and look who's with him! It's Sora and Kairi! Hey, you two!"
Recognising both of the voices instantly, Sora, Kairi and Pence looked towards the shop with the neon candy lights. Two figures were running towards them, and as they came closer, Sora and Kairi were surprised by what they saw.
It was not that anything had changed about Hayner's physical appearance. The sixteen-year old was still pale skinned with spiky blond hair and brown eyes. He was also wearing his black vest that displayed a skull and crossbones underneath his grey jacket with camouflage pants and shoes with a brown wristband around his left wrist, and a yellow chain still hung around his neck with a yellow star attached to it.
What had surprised Sora and Kairi was that Hayner's right hand was holding Olette's left one. Other than this seemingly new sight, nothing had changed about the fifteen-year old brunette girl, either. Her hair was still sticking out on each side, with a strand hanging over each of her shoulders. She was still wearing an orange tank top that displayed white flowers with khaki three-quarter length pants. Her feet were still covered with yellow and white shoes, along with tall orange socks that matched her tank top. She still wore a blue, beaded bracelet on her right wrist and a blue charm still hung from a black string around her neck. Olette was looking at Sora and Kairi with wide, happy, green eyes as she and Hayner stopped near them.
"Hayner! Olette!" Sora exclaimed joyfully, raising a fist in triumph. "Alright! You're all here! I was hoping you would be!"
"What are you two doing here?" Hayner asked with a smile, shaking his head in disbelief. "We haven't seen you guys in ages."
"We're here for the day," Kairi explained, looking up at Sora with a soft smile. "Sora brought me here as a surprise."
"Well, you two being here is a surprise," Pence remarked, scratching his chin. "We weren't expecting you to come here."
"But we're very happy you did!" Olette added quickly, a wide cheerful smile on her face. "It's so lovely to see you again!"
"It's lovely to see you all, too," Kairi replied happily, nodding towards Olette. She was really enjoying being back at Twilight Town and seeing her old friends again.
"And that's really nice of you, Sora," Pence told the spiky-haired fifteen-year old, impressed by his selflessness, "to bring Kairi here as a surprise."
"Wasn't it, Pence?" Kairi glanced at the chubby boy before looking up at Sora, still smiling softly with a small blush.
Sora turned to the red-haired girl, smiling back down at her. Neither of the two young residents from Destiny Islands noticed Olette turn away from them to frown at Hayner, although she kept her hand in his. "Why don't you ever give me surprises, Hayner?"
The spiky-haired blond boy shrugged carelessly. "What surprises do you want?"
"What kind of question is that? You can't ask me what surprises I want, because then I'd know what they are!"
"Oh, then what am I supposed to do?"
"Use a bit of imagination, Hayner!"
Kairi turned to see them arguing and let out a small giggle. "Are you two a couple now?"
Upon hearing these words, the expressions on Hayner and Olette's faces were replaced by ones of horror. Olette's jaw dropped while Hayner's brown eyes widened. He stuttered his words as he tried to verbally defend himself. "Er..wh-what? No! Why w-w-would you think th-th-that?"
Grinning cheekily, Sora raised his free hand and pointed to the alarmed teenagers' hands, which were still linked together. "You guys are holding hands."
Hayner and Olette looked down at their hands, both sharing a loud gasp before swiping their hands from each other's grip. Hayner rubbed his hand on his jacket while Olette did the same on her tank top. They both glared at each other before turning back to Sora and Kairi, blushing nervously.
"We first...held hands when Pence dared us to," Hayner explained, managing to control his stuttering. "Olette said she liked it, so...I have to hold her hand now every time we go out."
"Hey, you said you liked it, too!" Olette turned to Hayner, glaring once again.
"They both liked it a lot," Pence told Sora and Kairi with a wink. "It was just over two weeks ago when they started doing it. And they especially do it when they go on dates."
"Dates?" Olette screamed in horror, her green eyes widening once again, her face turning red. "What dates, Pence?"
Pence turned to Olette and Hayner, shooting them a smirk. "Don't think I don't know about how you two go off to posh restaurants and other places without me. I see you go off, hand in hand, and I see where you go. How could you go to those good restaurants without me, guys?"
Glaring furiously, Hayner raised his left fist. He rubbed his knuckles onto the palm of his right hand, baring his gritted teeth at Pence. "You shouldn't be following us when we think we're alone, Pence! And just because we hold hands, don't mean we're a couple! I'm gonna-"
Just then, Olette squealed loudly, as she had spotted Sora and Kairi's linked hands. The sight surprised her, but she also thought it was a good chance to save Pence from a painful punch from Hayner. She pointed at the joined hands of the two teenagers from Destiny Islands. "Hey, are you a couple?"
Hayner and Pence turned away from each other to see Sora and Kairi looking at Olette in shock. They quickly pulled their hands away from each other and found themselves struggling to stand up straight, as they were shaking so much.
"Er, n-no," Sora stuttered nervously, running a hand through his hair. Sweat drops were running down the left side of his face.
"We were just, um, h-h-holding hands," Kairi added quickly, shaking her head rapidly. She placed her left hand on her heart to steady it, as it was suddenly beating so fast. She could feel her cheeks burn, for they were once again turning pink.
Hayner smirked smugly, folding his arms. He had forgotten all about giving Pence a punch. "Why were you holding hands?"
"We do it a lot," Sora replied, managing to control his stuttering and trying to sound casual, as if holding hands with Kairi was a normal thing. He put on a nervous grin.
"Because we like it." Kairi gave a nod in agreement before looking down shyly at her feet. Her cheeks were burning harder. She had never felt so nervous in her life, although she knew Sora would back her upl.
"Well, if you think holding hands with Olette makes me her boyfriend," Hayner replied calmly, not noticing Olette blushing deeper as he spoke, "then holding hands with Sora must make you his girlfriend, Kairi."
Kairi looked up quickly from her feet to give Hayner an expression that looked more stunned than the first one she had given him. She could not believe what he had suggested. "Me? Sora's girlfriend?"
"Um, Hayner, listen," Sora spoke quickly, trying to distract Hayner from embarrassing Kairi even further. "Do you know anywhere where we can take some nice pictures?"
"Oh, yes, do you?" With a shaky hand, Kairi pulled her camera out of her pouch. She held it up for the three Twilight Town residents to see, her legs still shaking. "I brought it with us, because I wanted to get some pictures of the world, even though I didn't know we were coming here."
"Oh, I know a lovely place to take pictures." Olette raised a finger, smiling, her blush fading away. "Sunset Terrace. But you have to take a train there."
"No problem. We will," Kairi smiled. "I like the sound of this place."
"Why don't you come with us?" Sora suggested hopefully. "As I said, I was hoping I would see you guys here. It would be nice if you joined us for the day."
A wide grin spread across Pence's face. He jumped on the spot in excitement. "Alright! We'll come with you! That would be great!"
"It certainly would," Olette nodded, smiling softly at her old friends. "We've really missed you guys while you've been gone. We have to catch up and all have fun."
Sora nodded in agreement, smiling back at Olette. "We certainly do."
Hayner pointed to a nearby sloping street that led out of the area. "Well, what are we waiting for? We've got a train to catch!"
The others turned to the street, grinning. They were all excited to be spending a fun day together. Hayner and Olette went to take hold of each others' hands, but then remembered what Sora, Kairi and Pence thought. Hayner clasped his hand over his mouth and pretended to couch into it, while Olette clenched her hand into a fist, which she placed onto her side.
Sora and Kairi could tell Hayner and Olette were trying to hide the fact they were going to hold hands, and they shared a happy laugh. They had to resist the urge to take each other's hands, however. They just walked side by side, instead, blushing slightly, as Hayner led the group towards and up the sloped street that led to Central Station.
Yeah, sorry if this chapter is not that good. I was gonna continue writing, but I think this is enough for one chapter, and what is to follow should go in another.
In some previous chapters, you'll have noticed that despite the fact that the main pairing in this story is Sora and Kairi, I put in some Tidus and Selphie moments as well, since I like that pairing, too. As you have probably worked out by now, I'll be doing the same with Hayner and Olette. :P
Since my schedule is delaying my updates, I'm gonna start posting news updates on my profile. So make sure to check them regularly to find out when new chapters are posted or at least in the process of being written. And don't worry, I won't stop writing this story until it's complete, no matter how long it takes. I know how annoying it is to read a story and it doesn't get finish. I don't intend on doing the same, because I can tell you guys are enjoying this, for which I am truly grateful. :) Thanks for the support, everyone – and stay tuned. Plenty more is to come. :P
