recap! yay me!!!

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Kairi wiggled her toes between his, watching if he would react. Sora smiled, then soon wiggled his toes with her's. She chuckled, then he did.

This is great day... perfect day, actually... now that I have some alone time with Sora... away from the castle...

Kai began to laugh, watching their toes.

"I think you're winning." Kai said with a wide smile. He laughed, then wrestled through her toes some more. They both began to laugh laouder and louder, not caring who was around them. Kairi moved closer to him, soon shoulder to shoulder now.They turned their heads to face eachother, their laughs soon fading.

"Sora..." Kairi said faintly, then touched his cheek with her left hand.

"Let's go check out the old treehouses." Kai suggested.

"Sure." Sora agreed. She smiled, then kissed the top of his forehead, making him blush. Kai then stood up and grabbed her shoes off the ground. Sora looked up at her as she looked down. She moved back a few steps, then offered him her hand, smiling.

"We're home." Kai said. Sora smiled, then took her hand in his, Kai helping him up. He then grabbed his shoes and followed Kairi to the treehouses they both used to once live in.

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was that a good recap or what? claps lightly i'd almost forgot what i was doing for a moment there... oh well... on to the next chapter! shhhhoooooooooooommmmmmmmmmm! giggle

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Chapter 37: The Gift Inside Pt.1

They searched through every treehouse, looking at what had been left since they've been gone. When they went to Sora's house, it was empty. It seems his mother had moved or something, but it was hard to tell. His room was still full of his stuff, but why had everything else been cleared out? Kairi touched the planes above, remembering them trying to reach it, but never could. Sora sat on his bed and thought.

Where is she? Where's my mother?

He slouched on his bed while stuffing his face into his palms. Kai caught this and then sat beside him. She put her arms around him, hugging him tight.

"Don't worry, she's somewhere out there... I know it." Kai said softly, then released him, standing up once again to explore the rest of his house. Sora remained on his bed, soon looking towards the doorway.

I should've never left that night. Something happen to her... I know it.

He got up and folllowed Kai out. He caught her bending down and picking up what seemed to be a frame. He moved closer to her, wanting to see what it was.

"It's a picture." Kai said, taking it out of the frame and then putting it down on the nearby chair.

"It's me and... mom." Sora said. The picture was of a young boy, around 2 years old, with his mother. Though there was something wrong. The head part of her was ripped off. Her face was nowhere in sight in the picture at all. Sora turned around, not wanting to look at that image.

"I can't even see her face. I almost forget what she looks like... and I feel awful about it." Sora said, almost in tears. Kai turned around and grabbed his hand.

"I can tell you what she looked like, Sora. I might not remember a lot of things, but this is one of those things that i'll never forget." Kai said, then turned away from him.

"She's was so beautiful. Long, brown hair, so soft. She had these gorgeous big blue eyes. My guess is you got them from her. But anyway, she was pretty tall, beautiful she was too. I remember her being so nice and considerate all the time, never getting angry or upset. She loved you Sora. That's all she would ever talk about when I was with her. Funny thing is, since i'm an orphan, she wanted to take me in and raise me. Did she ever tell you of that time?" Kai asked. Sora didn't turn around.

"No... she didn't." Sora answered, getting even more upset.

"Oh, well... I don't know why she wouldn't tell you something like that. There's was something about your mother that was so unique though... something i've never seen before... I forget though. And it's really strange." Kai turned around, slowly walking towards Sora.

"She really cared about you Sora... she cared about all of us meaning not just you, but Riku, Tidus, Selphie, Wakka - ."

"And you." Sora finally said, then turned around to face her. Kai smiled.

"That's right." She said softly. Sora touched her cheeks lightly, feeling the warmth through his glove.

She's never cold. Never once was she.

Kai touched his hand on her cheek and smiled.

"Let's go outside for a little air. We've been through all the treehouses already." Kai suggested, then picked up her shoes from the floor, walking outside. Sora watched until she disappeared. He then looked at the photo once more on the table.

"Mom..." Sora said faintly. He smiled.

"I remember what you told me that night, before I left you." Sora said, then closed his eyes, remembering...

FLASHBACK:

Fourteen year old Sora sat in his chair, eating his spaghetti and meatballs. His mother looked at him dreamily. Sora looked up at her, confused.

"What?" He asked, sauce splatered on his cheek. His mother smiled at him and then grabbed a napkin from the middle of the round table, wiping his cheek.

"That's no way to look when impressing a lady, Sora." His mother said while giggling. Sora turned red.

"W-what!?" Sora asked questioningly.

"Kairi." His mother said sweetly. Sora put his fork down, then took a deep breath.

"My little boy is growing up."

"I... guess so."

"You're going to be a very handsome gentleman one day, and then you're going to find a girl, and get married. But listen Sora, don't grow up too fast." She said.

"I know, I know." Sora said, acting as though he cared. She reached over and touched his arm. He looked at her.

"Remember this Sora... starting a new journey may not be as hard as you think. All you've gotta do is work your way up, and sooner or later... well, you're there. What I mean is... sigh... you're journey's already begun, hasn't it?" His mother asked.

"What?" He asked. She removed her hand from his arm.

"Whatever you and Riku and Kairi are building... I know it's gonna change your life.. forever, hopefully one better than you have now." She explained.

END

He reopened his eyes and looked at the picture.

"Starting a new journey is not as hard as you think." Sora repeated. He tried to remember her face, but couldn't. It was like he was talking to a headless woman of some sort. Sora wasn't even sure what she sounded like either.

"You also told me to protect Kairi with my life... and I will do that. I promise." Sora said, then walked towards the exit. But before walking out of the treehouse, he turned around and looked at his old home one last time.

"Good-bye mom." Sora said softly, then walked out completly, closing the door after him. Kairi looked up at him from the sand. She cupped her hands together and began to shout.

"Sora!" Kai screamed loud enough for him to hear. He looked down at her and smiled.

"What?!" He asked.

"Come on you lazy bum! Let's go explore more! It's already after 5!" Kai shouted up, then ran towards a shed. Sora began to run down, soon reaching the sand. He spotted Kairi waiting for him at the door of the shed, soon running towards that direction.

Once caught up with Kairi, she touched the knob of the wooden door, turning it slowly. It creaked open, showing just a small boat and 2 oars on the floor. They both entered the dusty shed, looking around to see if anything else layed around the area. When they couldn't find anything, Kai looked back down at the boat and smiled. Sora did the same.

"Hey, Sora. You thinking what i'm thinking?" Kai asked.

"Ohhh yeah." Sora said slyly. Kairi and Sora threw their shoes out to the sand and then Kai put the oars in the boat, then she and Sora lifted it up. Surprisingly, it was pretty light. Carefully, they carried it out towards the water. They lowered it down onto the sand/water, slightly pushing it into the ocean.

"Hop in." Sora said from behind the boat. From the side, Kairi jumpped in while Sora continued to push the boat into the water. When the boat reached the point were it could sail on it's own, Sora hopped in, going to the front of the boat where the oars layed.

"There we go." Sora said. He grabbed both oars and rowed out into the sea, towards the orange sun that was setting. While rowing, they both came into a cool breeze. Kairi's hair flew towards her right. Sora caught this and looked into her blue eyes, which were reflecting from the sun.

Her eyes... her hair. She's... beautiful...

Kairi chuckled as Sora seemed ti be in 'lala land'.

"What?" Kai asked, still giggling at the weird expression on his face. Sora quickly turned his head to the side, turning red in the process.

What am I doing? She's the princess and i'm just her guardian. But still... I need to tell her.

He looked at her once again.

"Um, Kairi." Sora said.

"Yes?" She asked, cupping her hands and placing them on her thighs.

"I... um... well, I kind of... sorta umm... -"

"What is it Sora?" Kai asked, looking a little worried. He looked to the side of her and saw that they were far enough from the ocean, so he stopped rowing.

"I uh... I... uhhh..."

"C'mon Sora! Tell her!!!

His Keyblade appeared in his hands.

"I-I have somthing for you. So you have to uhh... close your eyes, ok?" Sora said. Kairi nodded in agreement and closed her glossy eyes while smiling. On the tip of the Keyblade, a light shone and suddenly, a peach present appeared in his left hand. It was small, pretty much weightless, and had a note on the top, attached to the red ribbon. He dismissed his Keyblade, then held the tiny gift in both hands.

"Ok, open your eyes." Sora sadi softly.

Slowly, Kai opened her eyes and looked at the small gift.

"Sora..." Kai said faintly. She took the gift.

"You shouldn't have. Really, you shouldn't." Kai said, looking up at him innocently.

"Don't worry about it. I hope you like it." Sora said, looking up at the orange sky above them. She looked at him.

"Anything you give me is valuable to me forever." Kai said happily. She then carefully ripped off the note from the ribbon, making sure everything letter was still in it's place, then read it to herself silently.

NOTE:

I know that this is kind of late, but at least you're getting it now.
When I cam back to you, I almost totally forgot about it. By the
look of it, i'd say you forgot about it too. Anyway, hope you like
it.

-Sora

And though, I know,
The world of real Emotion has surrounded me...
I won't give into it.
Now, I know,
That forward is the only way my heart,
Can go,
I hear your voice calling out,
To me...
"You'll never be alone."

-Yuna(jade from sweetbox) 'real Emotion'

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i'm finally done w/ this chapter! yay for me!!!!! i'm so happy, i mean, wasn't this pretty long? was it? ha, ha,! hope you enjoyed and i'll update soon!

oops, almost forgot, i'd like to give a humungous shout out to my BFF, emily! she's been my best friend since... 3rd grade(almost forgot)! we've always been friends and were still gonna be 'em, no matter where we are! right em?! laughs anyaway... just wanna say thanks em for being there for me!