They arrived at the castle the next morning. Kairi departed the gummi ship, shielding her eyes from the morning sun. Sora stepped off after her, his hair disheveled and his eyes still sleepy from the flight. They had booked it towards the castle when they realized they had overslept unintentionally. Their friends were surely wrapping up breakfast by now, no doubt noticing her and Sora's absence. The hard part would be sneaking to their rooms without being seen in the same clothes they were in yesterday. Kairi cursed herself for not bringing an extra pair. They ran quietly to the side of the castle across the courtyard. Sora climbed up the lattice first, turning to offer his hand to her to hoist her up. He pushed her past him, helping her onto her third floor balcony. Kairi turned to lean over at him as he propped his elbows on the railing, a dreamy look fell on his face as his head went into his hand. She turned to look at him before she went into her room.
"What?" she asked, a smile forming across her lips.
"You're really pretty." He said bluntly. She felt her cheeks and neck warm at the sudden bold compliment, he always had a habit of saying exactly what he was thinking. She looked down at herself, still in her swimsuit and cover up; her hair wasn't brushed and had a slight wave from drying in the sun after her swim in the ocean. Sand still covered her in places from sleeping on it, and she felt she must have looked a sight.
Regardless, she walked over to him and leaned in to kiss his cheek as a thank you. He smiled wider at that.
"See you later." She said sweetly, she opened her door to her room and quietly went inside.
Sora climbed down the lattice carefully as to not break it. He jumped to the ground once he reached the first floor, landing on his feet. He stood up and turned to walk when he felt himself collide into a body. His eyes snapped open to see Riku, arms folded across his chest.
"Long night, huh?" Riku asked, a smirk forming in the corner of his lips. Sora's eyes got wide from the sudden confrontation. He turned to see Donald standing beside his friend shaking his head mimicking Riku's stance.
"It's not what you're thinking." Sora said sheepishly. But it kinda was?
"Hmmmmmmmm?" Donald said in a teasing way. Why did he have to be here to see them too?
Sora's arm came down from rubbing the back of his head.
"You're one to talk." Sora said as his hands went to his hips. He now stood on his tiptoes to close the height distance between them. Riku playfully shoved his shoulder, causing Sora to stand at his normal height. They laughed.
"I'm glad you two made up." Riku said, his tone a little more serious.
"Yeah, it was starting to get weird." Donald admitted. Sora knew that he had let it affect his performance on the battlefield. He had thought that she distanced herself on purpose and every time he wanted to talk about it, it seemed like they were always sent on different missions. They had spent so much time apart they really didn't know how to act when they were together anymore. He figured if she wanted to bring it up, she would; and she did. He wouldn't let it happen again, he had come this far to let something so trivial affect their relationship.
Sora retired to his room to bathe and change. He ran his fingers through his damp hair as he threw on black shorts and a dark grey t-shirt. He collapsed on the bed, still tired from the lack of sleep. Kairi had woken up in a panic in the middle of the night, unsure of where she was. She had stirred him awake as well. He had rubbed his eyes groggily, his brain trying to comprehend what was going on at the time. He remembered catching a glimpse of her eyes glossing over, was she about to cry? He placed a hand on her shoulder to feel her trembling. She turned to look at him, clearly relieved as the day's events came flooding back to her. She had shaken her head when he asked if something was wrong, and told him it was just a bad dream. They laid beside each other for hours, neither of them caring to keep track of time. She told him everything that happened in the white room. His stomach turned into knots as he took in the information quietly. In truth, he didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. She was bold as she told her story, her voice never broke once; but he did. He felt guilty he didn't get to her sooner. He felt guilty all his sleepless nights looking for her never yielded anything. He remembered feeling so relieved to see her alive. That's all that had mattered. She was alive.
He took deep breaths as he rolled to his side now, his body desperate for a nap. He had since felt so much closer to her now, knowing all her deep dark secrets. His brain thought of the warmth of her body on his, the way she kissed him and held him against her. He recoiled slightly in embarrassment at the thought of giving in to her, his brain turning to mush as he let himself enjoy the motions she was making with her hips. It was getting harder for him to stay in control around her, he wanted to give in to every impulse and every pleasurable feeling she provided. He wanted to be lost in her soft skin and the tropical scent of her hair; He wanted his lips to taste the saltiness of her flesh like she had been permanently stained by the ocean. He wanted to be enveloped by the warmth of her light. He wanted to love her like she deserved.
Sora groaned as he tried to still the thoughts bouncing around in his head. He rolled to his stomach now, sleep threatening to take him as he breathed slower. He drifted off as he thought of her.
"Alright, let's go over the rules." Riku raised his voice as they stood outside, the warm sun beaming down against the green grass of the courtyard.
"Who died and made you king of the game?" Sora interjected.
"It's pronounced 'Team Captain'," Riku replied, "And it's already been decided they would be me and Axel, but someone wasn't at breakfast this morning to hear it." He finished with a sly smile ghosting across his lips.
Sora reared back from his confrontational stance as Xion stifled a giggle next to him. Riku began speaking again, going over the rules of the game. There would be a red and a blue team, each having their flag atop their respective poles. The goal was to get the flag and return it to the opposing team's territory to claim victory; Getting captured meant jail until a teammate tagged you. It all seemed incredibly simple, except they were all keybearers (minus Link and Namine) and they never left anything simple. Colors were randomly drawn from a box to assign teams. Kairi had pulled a blue square. She walked towards Riku, tying the sky colored sash he had given her around her waist like a belt. She turned to look at the red team. Axel, Sora, Xion, and Namine all raced towards their territory to get started. The blue team consisted of herself, Riku, Link, and Roxas. Kairi sighed as the waited on their territory until the game was called to begin. She looked above her head at the pole that harbored the blue flag. It had to atleast be twenty feet high, meaning magic and special attacks were all fair game in order for it to be claimed.
The sound of footsteps running through the courtyard interrupted her thoughts and told her the game had officially started. She wielded her blade and began to implement the team's strategy Riku had reviewed with them. She would break into the Red team's forces to steal their flag, Link would serve as a distraction while she snuck in. Riku and Roxas would stay further back while they protected their base. She ran for the shrubs as her small frame ducked behind them, shielding her from everyone's sight. Link ran past her, running into Axel as they began to fight to get across territories. Kairi rolled and shot an ice spell at Axel, momentarily stunning him enough for Link to knock him back. He then matched Kairi's speed as they ran ahead towards the red territory. A fira shot out at her and she tried to dodge it, her feet trying to stop her momentum as it hit her on the side. Kairi fell to the ground at the slight burn, skidding in the thick grass as she finally came to a stop. She looked up to see Sora smirking at her, his weapon pointed in her direction as he took off.
She smiled to herself as she got up to chase him, twirling her blade behind her as she swished and sped up to him with an impressive speed. She saw him roll aside as she sent out another ice spell towards him. He suddenly dropped to his hand as he swung his feet around, his ankle swiping her feet out from underneath her. She fell on the soft grass, her back making a dull thump as she erupted into a fit of giggles. He smiled at her as he quickly got back on his feet.
"How are we supposed to fight if you're not taking it seriously?" his smile lingered in the playful tone of his voice. Kairi leapt to her feet again, her keyblade quickly striking in Sora's direction as he reflexively called his own to block it.
"Who says I'm not taking it seriously?" she beamed at him. The sun had cast a golden hue to the crown of her head, as though she were glowing. Sora stilled for a moment, obviously distracted by the view. He smiled at her, she had always been competitive like this. He quickly matched wits with her as they sparred. They kept it relatively light, neither of them showing their true strength. Kairi kept her eye on the subtle movement in the nearby shrubs, Link must be signaling her the coast was clear. She purposely let her guard down so Sora would take the opening. He did. She swooped out of the way as Link came down to block it. She began running at the sound of Sora's surprised yelp, she couldn't help but smile. She reached the pole with little effort, much to her surprise, no one was there to guard it; seems like Riku's plan had worked.
Kairi cast an aero spell that swept her up towards the top, her fingers ripping the red material from it's home. She tucked it in the blue sash that adorned her waist and took off. All she had to do now was get back to her team's base. She rolled as she felt a body colliding with hers, the force pushing them both into the grass. She looked up to see Xion straddling her hips, her blade drawn to Kairi's shoulder.
"Nice try. Now you're our prisoner!" She said as she raised her keyblade up to seal Kairi's fate. Her eyes squeezed shut as she heard the sound of a metal clash block Xion's hit. Kairi saw Roxas above her, pushing Xion back as she wriggled out from underneath her legs. Kairi righted to her feet again as she took off, her feet pushing her as fast as she could go. Riku emerged behind her, easily keeping pace.
"I'll cover you." He said between breaths.
He stopped to block another fira headed her way. This one was stronger than the last time. Kairi shook her head at her friends taking this game way to seriously. She doged and rolled various attacks as she approached their base, making sure that Riku didn't lose track of her or she would be done for. She felt him shove her behind him suddenly, her hands pressing into the back of his shirt as she realized he was shielding her from a flurry of attacks from Axel. She stayed put, unwilling to move at risk of being an open target. She saw Xion closing in on them in the distance. This fight would end quickly if she managed to join. Kairi looked to see no sign of Roxas or Link, she wondered if they had been captured. She felt Riku's hand shove her from the side as he dove to block another attack. Kairi stumbled but quickly righted herself as she ran some more, no one was there to have her back now. She rolled, kicked, dodged, and spun away from various attacks as Xion closed in on her.
It had occurred to Kairi that she was running out of stamina from being so quick on her feet. She heard Xion cast a blizzard spell from behind her. Turning quickly, Kairi cast another aero spell; the wind swirled around violently, almost pulling all her weight from the ground in the vortex. She felt the barrier of the aero spell collide with oncoming blizzard and she was blown backwards, hurdling away from Xion. Kairi shot through the air like a rocket, her vision blurring as she was thrown through the courtyard. She felt her feet finally touch the ground again as her heels skidded through the soft dirt. She could feel her bottom hit the grass hard and she gritted her teeth; losing balance at the sudden jolt of pain. Kairi now rolled, her arms tucked underneath her as she slowly came to a halt. She turned on her back in the grass, stunned and dizzy from what just happened. She heard dull footsteps as her friends raced towards her. She pulled the flag out of her belt and raised it unceremoniously in the air as she tried to catch the breath that had been knocked out of her.
"Aw man," She heard Xion say at the red team's loss, "Are you alright, Kairi?"
She felt an arm go underneath her own, gently pulling and sitting her in an upright position. She met with Riku's teal colored eyes; she could see him searching for any sign of injury in her expression. When he was satisfied there wasn't any he smiled.
"Nice!" he said, raising his hand for a high five. Kairi's hand met with his.
Sora, Roxas, Namine, and Link came running up behind them.
"Ah, there go the captured ones." Axel said, grinning.
Namine turned to walk with him back into the castle.
"I'm going to wash up before dinner. You guys always get too serious with these games." She said as she rubbed a freshly dawned scratch on her elbow.
"Someone can't handle the heat!" Roxas called after her as he laughed. Namine turned to stick her tongue out at him.
Kairi stood up fully now, wobbling slightly as she gained her balance. She could see Riku tending Namine's arm as they walked inside with the group. She turned to follow them when she heard Link's voice behind her.
"That was quite a game," he said, chuckling. He stepped closer, his eyes scanning her form as if he were concerned.
"You sure you're alright? That was a pretty hard fall." Kairi felt her breath hitch as he loomed over her.
"I'm fine." She said without much confidence behind it. In truth it wasn't the fall that made her say it like that, Link was making her uncomfortable. "It just wasn't a graceful landing." She tried to laugh to ease the tension he had suddenly put between the two of them. With one hand she rubbed her bottom, still sore from the impact as he smiled and stepped even closer at her attempt of humor. Kairi felt herself step back into a shrub, the prickly leaves gently scraped the skin of her calves in an uncomfortable way. His hand came to rest on her arm, his fingers lightly gripping her bicep like he did that night he tried to help her escape. Kairi was conflicted, what exactly was going on? He held her gaze as she peered at him with wide eyes, she did her best not to show fear. It must have worked because he kept leaning towards her, his face now inches away from hers. His breath blew gently against her cheeks.
"Kairi…I like you." He almost whispered it. It seemed as though he wanted to gauge her reaction because his grey eyes were cemented to her expression.
"You can't." she said. She didn't know where her voice came from all of a sudden, because his confession made her feel like it had dropped to her stomach.
Link leaned back, his eyes widened at her comment. Kairi could see now in the sunset that his cheeks were slightly flushed. Was he really serious? He had feelings for her?
"We're friends." She said firmly.
"After all I've done for you?" he accused.
She felt as though she had just been smacked in the face. She couldn't believe the nerve of him, and it suddenly made her like him less. Emboldened by her anger, her voice became firmer.
"You don't get to hold that over me, I never asked for your help."
"So it is Sora…" he said, his eyes looked away from her for the first time since they had been talking.
Kairi's heart pounded against his chest at the mention of his name. She wished Link would take it all back, she wished he would tell her it had been an unsavory joke. She waited for his gaze to return to her so she could make herself clear. Whatever small friendship they had, it was vanishing rapidly. She felt her fingers dig into the palms of her clenched hands; the line had already been crossed.
"You wanted my answer and it's no."
He looked back at her now, his hand still wrapped around her arm. His eyes widened as if to say he was sorry. She couldn't read whether it was genuine or not.
"Kairi I-"
"She said no." a firm voice interrupted Link's desperate plea. Kairi looked to see Riku standing beside her now, he had snuck up on them so quietly that neither of them had noticed. She took a breath of relief at the presence of her friend by her side. His hand went to her back and pressed firmly in the middle of her shoulders, she leaned into his direction as he led her away; Link's fingers slipped delicately off her skin.
Kairi walked with her head down as Riku turned to look back at Link, leaving him behind in the courtyard. Once they were inside she heard the sound of the heavy wooden door closing behind her; the echo resounded in the empty hallway. She felt Riku come around as she leaned into him, her forehead resting on his chest. His arms came to her shoulders, stroking her there softly in an attempt to comfort her frayed nerves.
"I knew I didn't like that guy." He muttered under his breath.