Chapter Four: Happy Home
Kairi pulled her yellow skirt up a little to facilitate climbing out of their boat. Her skirt was long, light, and accompanied by a white tank top. She took the bags down the dock as Sora finished tying up the small wooden vessel.
"I always love coming home," Kairi remarked, surveying the island. It was so nice to know that, just around the bend, was the huge house built from the ancient tree. The house—no, the home—that she shared with the people that meant the most to her in "any and all worlds out there," as Sora once had said.
Her husband was at her side a moment later. The man kissed her cheek gently and held her waist with one arm. It was midday; they had left his parents fairly early.
Kairi touched her neck. It still felt naked without the heavy mane of dark red. She had cut her hair not too long ago, returning it to its length of almost twenty years earlier. Now it was long enough to only curve around the bottoms of her ears. It was a drastic change, but a welcome one. She simply didn't have time to take care of a yard of hair.
She slung her satchel across her shoulder and picked up her small handbag from the sand-covered dock. Sora grabbed his things too and, hand in hand, they started for home.
Kairi knew there were a lot of things of which she would never tire. Feeling Sora's fingers wrapped around her own was definitely at the top of that list. No matter how many millions of hours she spent near him, she continued to love the man more and more each day. There were so many people she loved, and her heart just kept growing to encompass them all.
Sometimes, it was a little overwhelming.
After being away for a week, she was eagerly awaiting a reunion with her children. She had one worry, though, and it was Nadia.
"You promised to try and get along with her better," Kairi reminded Sora when the village and house came into view. "For my sake, Sora."
"I will try," he said, sounding doubtful.
"In just a few days, she's going to be sixteen… I can't believe it."
"I feel old."
"Well, don't," she insisted, prodding his ribs. "Because I'm the same age you are and I am not old!"
He just laughed, and she laughed with him a little, trying to get her thoughts to steer away from the silver-rimmed glasses sitting in the study.
Sora stopped suddenly, squinting up at the house. "Hey, did Nadia get a boyfriend when we were away?"
"Eh, what?" Kairi was squinting, too, straining to make the three figures in front of her house become clearer. There was Nadia and there was Jalen…and someone with long blond hair she didn't recognize. "What do you mean boyfriend?"
"You need to wear those glasses more often," Sora teased, guiding her farther up the hill. "Look, that thing is definitely male."
"And entirely too old for her! Who is he?"
"C'mon, Mama Wolf, you were just talking about how she's already sixteen."
"Not yet she's not sixteen."
Kairi sped up her ascent toward the house and the group of people. Jalen saw her first and ran down into the woman's arms. She hugged him and kissed his cheeks and forehead.
"Welcome home, Mommy!"
"Thank you, sweet," she murmured, holding him tightly against her body as she knelt on the ground. "I missed you so much!"
"Hi, Mom," Nadia said, standing behind Jalen. Her hair was in two thick braids on the sides of her head. The look on her tanned face was a little awkward, as usual. She was making an effort to smile, though.
"Daddy!" Jalen ran behind Kairi to his father.
"Hey there, big guy," Sora said, holding the boy up in his arms. "I think you've gotten bigger since I last saw you."
Kairi stood and brushed sand from her skirt. "He's always growing."
Sora nodded. With Jalen on his hip, he straightened out a little. "Hi, Nadia. How are you doing?"
Kairi looked anxiously toward the girl.
A tense pause, and then…
"Hi, Sora."
I guess I can't ask for more than that, Kairi thought. She embraced her daughter warmly. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
"Huh?"
"To your friend?"
"Oh," Nadia said calmly, glancing back at the blond young man behind her. "He's Edgar. He just kinda showed up."
"Nice to meet you," the newcomer said, bowing his head toward Kairi and then Sora. "I just moved to this island last week."
"What about your parents?" Sora wondered.
He just shrugged. "They're at home. I'm starting out on my own."
"How old are you, exactly?" Kairi wanted to know.
"Seventeen, miss." He just smiled under the heat of her scrutinizing glare.
I guess he's not too bad… He seems polite enough… I can't remember the last time I was called 'miss,' anyway.
"Let's all go have something cold to drink," Sora suggested, tottering a bit as he tried to simultaneously get his bag and hold onto Jalen.
"Let me take that, sir," Edgar said, offering his hand for the bag.
"Thanks," Sora replied. "That's nice of you."
Kairi looked at Nadia and saw her daughter had a strange expression on her face. It seemed like a little bit of anger was in her features somewhere… Now why in the world would she be angry?
I don't think I'll ever understand her completely, Kairi thought with a mental sigh.
~*~
Nadia looked up when she heard a knock on her bedroom door.
"Oh, hi, Mom," she said, putting aside the book she had been reading. "Is it time for me to help make dinner?"
"In a minute," Kairi told her, sitting down on the bed. She stretched her arms behind her and leaned back on her palms, then turned to Nadia and smiled. "I haven't seen my daughter for a week. I'd like to have a little time with her."
The girl nodded. Her mother was really beautiful, even without all her hair. Short hair seemed to suit Kairi better for some reason, although this was the first time Nadia had seen it that way.
Nadia hadn't had her hair more than trimmed since she was seven. Her father had always cut it for her and she couldn't dream of anyone else doing it…
"So?"
"Oh, sorry…I was thinking. Did you ask me something?"
"Yes, Nadia. About that Edgar boy."
"Yeah, what a weirdo, huh?"
"Hmm?" Kairi looked confused.
I guess he was acting regular around them… "Jalen sure loves him."
"Those three are playing right now. Something about knights?"
The girl nodded. "Sounds right for Edgar. He's got some strange obsession with being a gentleman."
"And you're complaining?"
Eh… It is kinda creepy. But…I didn't mind until he started being so nice to Sora…
"Nadia?"
"Yeah?"
"You look a little upset. Want to be left alone?"
Nadia shrugged. She could never say anything bad about Sora, because her mother would instantly jump to his defense. It had happened before. "No, Mom. Um… Let's go make dinner, 'kay?" Before getting an answer, she got up and hurried out of her room and down the stairs. Her mother was behind her after a hesitant moment.
Down in the kitchen, the main course, soup, was already simmering over the fire. Nadia retrieved some of the vegetables she had harvested from the garden and began washing and cutting them for a salad. Kairi was quiet and started slicing pieces from a big loaf of bread.
"Where did you get that?" Nadia wondered. "You didn't have time to make it today, did you?"
"No. It's from Andra," her mother explained, sawing another piece off the dark and hearty loaf. "She also gave me some fresh fruit from their orchard that we can have for dessert."
"So how are they?"
Kairi put down the bread knife and was quiet for a moment. "Sora's father isn't very well…"
"Oh…" Nadia felt sad. She really did like Sora's parents. "I'm sorry."
"So am I, honey," the woman said, wrapping the unused half of the bread in some cloth and setting it aside. "But, you know, he's seventy… These things happen." However, even as she spoke these words and went back to her work, her eyes wandered outside to where Sora ran around with Jalen and Edgar in mock battles.
Nadia looked out at them too. Then she thought, Mom's right. Sora's father is seventy. Mine was twenty-five. And I had no warning…
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this chapter is short and horrible…sorry. i'm really depressed as of last night so i can't honestly say i care much at the moment… i'd much rather not feel so empty on the inside. anyway, yes, i am leaving tomorrow and will be gone all of next week, so no updates.
