Kingdom Hearts III: The Heart's Greatest Weapon

Chapter 36: It's My First Date

In the streets of Radiant Gardens, nearly half a week following Sora and Genis' successful rescue of Presea, Mulan began training Kairi to fight by herself. And with their moments of peace, it appeared that Kairi was truly learning from Mulan. Sora and Riku watched from afar.

"Wow Sora. I've got to hand it to you. Mulan's a great teacher for Kairi." Riku said. Sora chuckled, remembering how their sparring matches have been going lately.

"That's it Kairi. Good. Remember, keep that stance." Mulan said. Kairi nodded and both swung their weapons in unison. Soon enough, it seemed like Kairi and Mulan were mirrors. Inside, Genis was struggling with Raine. Raine was grabbing Genis' arm, trying to force him back to bed.

"Raine! Come on! I'm fine now! Believe me!" Genis shouted.

"Not according to your sister you aren't. You were seriously injured from your fight with Cage. You need rest Genis." Raine said. Genis growled.

"Ow! Sis! You're gonna yank my arm out of it's socket!" Genis exclaimed. Raine suddenly let go, letting Genis clutch his arm.

"You see? You haven't completely healed. Your body still needs time to heal. Now come on, back into bed with you." Raine said. She was last seen pulling Genis back into his room by his ear.

"Hey! Raine? Ow! OW! This isn't making me feel any better!" Genis exclaimed. Soon as Raine left, Genis was in his bed sulking under the covers.

"Stupid sister. I don't know what the big deal is." Genis grumbled. Just then, he saw his door creaking open. Thinking it was Raine again, he hid under his covers. But actually, it was Presea.

"Genis?" Presea asked. Genis peeked out and spotted Presea.

"Oh. Presea. Phew. I'm glad to see it's YOU and not Raine with more medicine." Genis said. Presea slowly approached Genis and sat on his bed.

"I never...I never got a chance to truly thank you for rescuing me. You were very brave, even though Cage was beating you around so easily." Presea said. Genis gasped, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Well....I had too Presea. You mean too much to me. I....I couldn't let Cage do what he was planning to do to you." Genis said. Almost as if it was a mirage, Genis thought he saw Presea smile.

"Thank you....Genis." Presea muttered. She lightly kissed Genis before walking away. Genis blushed, feeling his face.

"No way. Was....Was that really Presea?" Genis thought. A little later on, everyone relaxed in the kitchen after training outside.

"Phew. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm exhausted." Kairi sighed. Seifer huffed.

"Well, that's funny. I never thought I'd hear you say that yourself." Seifer said. But secretly, Sora and the others snickered.

"This is coming from someone who's hardly done anything but hang around here." Sora chuckled. Seifer groaned, making Pete laugh too.

"And what are YOU laughing at big guy?! Ever since YOU joined, you've hardly done squat!" Seifer shouted. Pete groaned.

"You better watch it shorty! Otherwise, you're really gonna get it! I have TOO done my load for this team and I'm not gonna let some snot nosed little.....!" Pete argued. The two continued to argue with each other, seeming like there wasn't any end. As they did, Sora took a glance at Kairi. He remembered how close their feelings were when they visited China.

"Uhh...say Kairi?" Sora asked. Kairi looked up at Sora and asked what it was. Sora looked away, blushing a bit.

"Well, I thought since....you know....you're training is going so well that....maybe you'd like to...." Sora stuttered. Kairi continued to watch until she got some idea of what he was saying.

"Sora? Are you asking me on a date or something?" Kairi chuckled. Sora completely froze up, proven when Goofy waved his face in Sora's face but nothing happened.

"Then yes. I'd love to." Kairi giggled. Sora's face blushed bright red.

"O...Okay then." Sora said. Riku chuckled from afar as Colette took Lloyd's hand.

"Hey Lloyd? How come we haven't gone on a date? Are you shy too? Like Sora?" Colette asked. Lloyd nervously chuckled.

"What? No. No. I'm not SHY. Hey, how about we go along with Sora and Kairi then?" Lloyd asked. Colette chuckled and hugged Lloyd's arm. Soon, Marta was getting the same idea.

"Oh Emil?" Marta asked in a cute voice. Emil gulped, figuring Marta was going to ask the same thing as Colette. Tenebrae sighed.

"Really Lady Marta, you think you would have a LITTLE dignitiy when asking Emil on a date." Tenebrae said. Marta growled until Emil agreed to Marta's invite for a date. Marta squealed and hugged Emil. From his bedroom, Genis could hear everyone's words and wished he could go on a date with Presea. Just then, he saw Presea coming in.

"P...Presea?" Genis asked. Presea took Genis' arm and asked him if he was thinking the same thing. Genis gasped.

"Wait. Wha...?" Genis stuttered. Later that day, Sora and the others boarded the Gummi Ship and all four dates went together. They were Sora and Kairi, Lloyd and Colette, Emil and Marta with Genis and Presea, sneaking on without Raine knowing. Even with them discovered, Sora let Genis and Presea come.

"Wow. Presea, you...you really changed." Genis said. Presea looked away.

"Well, I thought you deserved something for rescuing me after all." Presea said. Genis smiled and blushed. Their destination was Twilight Town after Sora mentioned how beautiful Sunset Hill was. Back in Radiant Garden, Leon was talking with Cloud alone on the cliffside in the Dark Depths. Tifa joined them.

"So, Sephiroth is back again?" Leon asked. Cloud nodded without a word.

"Yeah. When we attacked the prison to rescue Sora's friend, I got into another fight with him. But something was odd." Cloud said. Tifa asked what happened exactly.

"Well, we were following the plan exactly. I was helping draw the prison's attention from Sora and soon enough, Sephiroth arrived. We fought for a long time, but he suddenly vanished after saying he got a "order" to return to base....wherever that is." Cloud said. Leon sighed.

"Whatever the case, if Sephiroth really is in leagues with the Dark Knight, we've got trouble. And by "we", I really mean Sora." Leon said. Tifa agreed, not expecting Sephiroth to be back so soon. Cloud looked at his hand and clenched it tightly.

"Even if he is, the next time we meet....is when we're going to settle it." Cloud muttered. Elsewhere, Sora and the others landed safely in Twilight Town. Sora and his friends then headed for the train station and went on the train line to Sunset Hill. As the train chugged along the tracks, Colette and the others looked outside at Twilight Town's beautiful surroundings.

"Wow. This place is so beautiful." Marta muttered. Emil nodded.

"It feels so warm here. It's like....It's like you can completely forget about everything that's happening." Colette said. Lloyd agreed, feeling the same way. Genis and Presea both looked out the window before a pain came to Genis' arm.

"Dang it." Genis thought. When Sora's group finally arrived at Sunset Terrace, everyone stepped out to see the beautiful sunset.

"You were right Sora. This place is perfect for a first date." Kairi said. Sora chuckled and took Kairi's hand.

"If you think that's neat, you should see Sunset Hill." Sora said. Kairi smiled.

"Okay then, lead on." Kairi said. Everyone followed Sora and Kairi into town, seeing what appeared to be a festival before them.

"Hey. What's going on?" Sora asked. In the grounds, Sora could see Hayner, Pence and Olette playing one of the festival games. Hayner threw darts at a board covered in balloons, but groaned.

"Dang it! I almost had it that time!" Hayner groaned. Pence chuckled.

"Yeah. And that's considering the fact that your last attempt almost got the game guy in the butt." Pence snickered. Hayner eyed him.

"Better watch it there Pence. Or maybe I'll have to..." Hayner chuckled with a sneer. But just then, Olette pointed out Sora and the others.

"Guys! Look! There's Sora!" Olette exclaimed. The others looked back and saw Sora and friends approaching.

"Hey! Sora! Good to see ya again!" Hayner called. Sora smiled and waved.

"Hey guys. How's it been?" Sora asked. Pence said things were going great in Twilight Town. Not a single problem occured since Sora and friends last visited, neither did any Heartless show up.

"That's good." Sora said

"So...how's Seifer doing, ya know?" a voice asked. Sora looked back and saw Fuu, Vivi and Rai.

"Hey there. Seifer's doing fine. We're learning to put up with him though." Sora said.

"Lonely." Fuu muttered. Olette chuckled, saying that Fuu meant it was kind of quiet with Seifer gone. Pence teased saying that maybe the Heartless only came since he was here. Sora and the others chuckled. Hayner took a good look at Sora's friends.

"Hey Sora, who are they?" Hayner asked. Sora introduced Lloyd and the others to the kids.

"Wow. You guys are in Sora's team too? That's amazing!" Pence exclaimed.

"Sure seems like YOU'VE been busy Sora. So what brings you by? We haven't called in a problem yet." Hayner said. Sora blushed and mentioned their dates. Pence gave off a short whistle before Olette bopped him.

"That's so sweet. You came on the perfect day. The terrance is having it's annual Twilight Sun Festival. You couldn't have picked a better day to come." Olette said. Lloyd chuckled, guessing they did. Emil asked if they knew about Sunset Hill.

"Oh yeah. That place is really beautiful. From what I've heard, the hill is more beautiful when you go there with someone you care about." Hayner said. Kairi suddenly glanced at Sora, making him blush again.

"Oh. So THAT'S why you wanted to come here Sora." Kairi giggled. Sora looked away, face bright red. The others laughed as well.

"Well, come on. We'd better let the others enjoy themselves." Sora muttered as he walked away with Kairi. Kairi looked back and told the others she would see them later. Sora and Kairi continued alone to Sunset Hill and walked up to the top. Sora made Kairi cover her eyes.

"Come on Sora. I can't stand it anymore." Kairi groaned. Sora chuckled.

"Okay Kairi. Take a look." Sora said. Kairi opened her eyes, gazing out at the beautiful horizon. Kairi was utterly speechless.

"Wow Sora. It's.....You're right. It's so beautiful up here." Kairi said. Sora smiled.

"Yeah. Kairi? I'm....I'm sorry." Sora said. Kairi looked at Sora and asked what he meant. Sora went on, apologizing for their fight. Kairi shook her head.

"Don't worry about that anymore Sora. I've forgiven you by now. You were just "not yourself" for a while there. Nothing to apologize for. I know that you're always going to be you." Kairi said. Sora looked away.

"Hey....Kairi? Remember when you asked me never to change? Well, don't ever change Kairi." Sora said. Kairi suddenly glanced at Sora as he rested his hand on hers.

"Why?" Kairi asked. Sora chuckled.

"Well, because I really like you....the way you are now." Sora said. Kairi blushed and rested her other hand on his.

"Oh, that's so sweet Sora." Kairi giggled. Sora and Kairi looked towards the sun as they both hugged each other. The others soon joined Sora and Kairi on the hill, staring out at the beautiful sun.

"It's so amazing. I can't believe how beautiful it is here." Marta said.

"Yeah. Look down there. You can see most of the town from up here." Lloyd pointed out. Genis could see it too, including Presea. As Presea looked on, Genis' eyes glanced at Presea.

"I'm really glad you're safe Presea. It's so great that we're all back together again." Genis thought. Everyone continued to enjoy the festival before heading home. And upon returning to Radiant Garden, Raine found out about Genis sneaking off but Sora was able to save Genis from being lectured by Raine. With their memories of the day in their hearts, Sora and the others gently drifted off to sleep late that night.

TO BE CONTINUED...