Author's note/disclaimer: So I actually wrote this little diddy about two years ago, and am just now deciding to post it. Yeah…I AM THE QUEEN OF PROCRASTINATION! WOOT::dances:
:coughs:
Now that we've gotten past that, I would just like to take the time to let you all know that the following story has no plot. It may give you a cavity or two, and it may entertain you, and it may make hardcore Sora/Kairi shippers giggle with girlish glee (or boyish glee, whichever applies). Even still, it has no plot. Consider yourselves warned.
That and I'm assuming you are all KH freaks like me and know what is truth and what is false, that which belongs to Squenix and that which belongs to me.
I wrote this not long after I beat Kingdom Hearts. Chain of Memories hadn't even been announced yet. I also haven't even played that game, so please excuse me if any of the details have changed.
And now, our feature presentation:
Of Dreams and Paupu Fruit
A Kingdom Hearts fanfic by
Nentikobe
"Just go talk to her!" a short, blonde boy whispered to a brown-hared girl standing next to him.
"No, Tidus! You talk to her!" the girl replied.
"No way, Selphie. I'm not supposed to anyway."
"Since when do you listen to your mother?" she asked with a laugh.
"Well…I just think she may have a point this time."
"Would you two just stop arguin'?" a taller boy came up from behind them and asked.
"Well, Wakka, maybe we would if you went and talked to her," Selphie suggested.
"Wait, how'd I get mixed up in this?"
"You opened your mouth," Tidus replied.
"Aint no way I'm gonna do it. I'm not good at this sorta thing anyway. Selphie, you should do it. Seein' as how you're a girl."
"No way! I thought she was an it! She looks more like one than anything else," Tidus chuckled at what he thought was brilliance.
"Oh yeah, real funny Tidus!" Selphie said as she slapped him hard on the back of the head.
"Ow! Selphie! No need to get violent!"
"Well, I suppose that of the three of us I am the only one who has any guts," Selphie said with an air of dignity. She then gave a deep sigh. "Wish me luck."
"No way, are you really gonna?" Wakka asked.
"Isn't that the point of our argument? To get someone to go and, you know, talk to her?"
"If our parents see they'll flip!" exclaimed Tidus.
"Well, maybe it's not as bad as they all say it is," Selphie said, trying to convince herself more than anyone else.
"I can hear you, you know," came another voice.
"Huh?" Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka had been standing on a small, wooden bridge leading out to a small, flat island sticking out of the ocean. They hadn't realized that as they argued, their voices grew louder.
"I can hear everything that you guys are saying. If you're going to talk about me behind my back, I'd advise you to do it elsewhere or in quieter voices," said a petite red-hared girl sitting upon a palm tree growing sideways out over the water watching the sunset.
Tidus and Wakka lightly pushed Selphie forward off the bridge and onto the island. She crossed her arms behind her back and rubbed the tip of her right shoe in the dirt. "We weren't talking about you, Kairi. We were just…"
"Save it, Selphie. It doesn't matter anyway," Kairi interrupted, her voice calm and emotionless, her eyes remaining upon the sunset the entire time.
"It's just that, there are rumors going around and…and…people are saying things," Selphie glanced over her shoulder at Tidus and Wakka, who waved their hands indicating that they wanted her to continue.
She turned back to Kairi, who hadn't moved an inch. "We just wanted to hear the truth for ourselves. You can trust us, Kairi. Whatever you can't tell everyone else you can tell us. We're your friends."
Kairi finally moved. She turned her head and looked at Selphie, a forced half-smile upon her face. "Are you really?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Selphie asked.
Kairi looked back at the sunset. "I know what people are saying. I know what your parents say," she gave a small laugh, "I know what you guys say yourselves. You don't have to pretend. If you agree with everyone else, I'll understand."
"Well that's just the thing. We would like to decide for ourselves if what people say is true our not." Selphie took a few steps forward and stood at the foot of the tree. "What happened to Riku and Sora?"
"I don't know," Kairi replied, "I've already answered this question a thousand times."
"But you were seen! Right when the storm hit, and right before the 'blackout' or whatever it was that happened, someone saw you and Riku take your boats out here, and a few minutes later Sora followed. And everyone was accounted for but you three, and now only you have come back."
"I'm fully aware of the details," Kairi said with a nervous giggle.
"And you know how Riku's dad is," Selphie added.
"I know how Riku's dad is," Kairi replied.
There was a long, uncomfortable pause in which Selphie re-crossed her arms behind her back and began to dig the tip of her other shoe into the dirt. "Well, it's getting late. We'd better go." Selphie turned to go.
"Yes, you guys had better."
Selphie paused and looked back at Kairi. "Aren't you coming?"
"I'll be along in a moment. You guys had better head back to the main island," said Kairi, who was now staring at her feet dangling beneath her.
"Okay…but…well…you know where I live," Selphie stuttered.
Kairi snorted, and this time it was genuine. "That is true."
"Well, bye."
"Bye."
As Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka left, Kairi heard Tidus say, in a voice that he assumed was a quiet whisper when it really wasn't, "You see? It's like my mom said. Total nut job!"
"Tidus, that was rude!" replied Selphie.
"Ow! Do you gotta hit?"
Kairi smirked and shook her head. She gave a deep sigh and looked back up at the sunset. The sun had now completely disappeared.
Kairi closed her eyes very tightly, and a single tear slid down her right cheek. "Sora, wherever you are, please come back to me…soon. And bring Riku with you," she whispered.
Kairi and her grandmother had first moved to the Destiny Islands several years ago. They were at first greeted with opposition though the mayor himself had offered to let them stay in his house until they found a place of their own. The islands rarely ever had new arrivals (rare meaning never). Whenever there were any, they usually were up to no good. But Kairi's grandmother had simply told Kairi to stand her ground and not pay any attention. The natives would soon come around.
And come around they did. One day as Kairi walk home from school, she sensed someone following her. She turned to look, but saw no one. Then as she rounded a corner, two boys, one tall with whitish hair and the other shorter with brown hair, jumped out from behind a bush, impaling her with water balloons. Kairi dropped her school bag and ran as fast as she could. When she ran out of breath, she jumped behind a bush to hide, nearly on the verge of tears. She was startled to make a discovery there: this is where the boys were hiding their balloon stash. Kairi grabbed two of them and waited behind a tree.
Before long the boys came back, and Kairi was waiting. When they turned their backs to her, she jumped out from behind the tree and got them both in the back of the head with her stolen balloons, causing them to drop whatever balloons remained (which also exploded at their feet).
Kairi couldn't help but laugh at the astonished looks on their faces. Their wet hair hung in their faces; their shirts soaked. She was then surprised to realize that they were laughing, too.
"You must be Kairi, the new girl," the white-hared boy managed to finally say.
"I am," she replied.
He extended his hand. "My name's Riku."
"Pleased to meet you," she stammered, taking his hand.
"This is my best friend, Sora," Riku said, nodding towards the brown-hared boy.
"Hi!" Sora said with a smile and a wave. "I think you dropped this." Sora held up Kairi's school bag, which had managed to stay dry.
"Oh, why thank you," she smiled, taking her bag back.
"So, what's it like in the mayor's house?" he asked her.
"I've already told you, Sora," Riku said with a role of his eyes. He jumped up, grabbed a branch of the tree and pulled himself up.
"I know, but, I'd like a second opinion," Sora replied. He turned back to Kairi. "So?"
"Well, I dunno, it's a house," she replied.
"Oh. Well, sorry for attacking you, by the way. We thought you were someone else," Sora explained as Riku dropped something down from up in the tree.
"I guess I could forgive you," Kairi grinned at him, looking into is bright, blue eyes.
Sora lightly blushed and looked away. He quickly bent down and picked up what Riku had dropped. "Here, you're gonna want this."
"A bag of water balloons?" she asked. "What for?"
Riku dropped down from the tree. "Tradition," he stated simply, stuffing a couple more bags into his pockets.
"Tradition?" She didn't understand.
"Sora! Riku! Get back here, cowards! I know it was you!"
"That sounds like Selphie," said Riku, turning his head in the direction of the voice.
"But we didn't even get her!" Sora protested.
"Who is she?" Kairi asked.
"That's who we thought you were," Sora replied.
"Oh."
There came the sound of frantic giggling, and two more boys came running through the bushes: it was Tidus and Wakka.
"Sorry, guys, but you know how Selphie is. There's no way we're going to take the rap," said Tidus. And with that, the two of them ran away.
"Uh, I think we should run and regroup somewhere else," suggested Sora.
"Good idea," said Riku, taking Kairi's hand, "Follow me!" Kairi had no choice but to allow herself to be dragged along.
As it turned out, on the last day of school before summer each year all the children of the island held an all-out water balloon war. Kairi just happened to be an innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time. And it was a good thing, too, for she, Riku, and Sora became the best of friends. All of the other children soon came around and welcomed Kairi as well.
The adults took some time, but they soon came around. It helped that both Sora's parents and Riku's mother fell in love with her the moment they met her. Sora's mother told everyone what a sweet and caring girl Kairi was, while Riku's mother couldn't stop going on about how she was "just the cutest little thing that you ever did see." Riku's father simply said that he really couldn't see how a little girl and an old woman could be a threat in the first place.
Years had passed since then, but now everyone was beginning to distrust Kairi and her grandmother again. Everyone's fears were brought on by what had been tentatively dubbed 'The Blackout.'
There came a storm, yet the sky, it looked so strange. There was a fell feel to the air. People remained indoors, yet when they looked out their windows they could see the shadows growing, sometimes even moving. Then everything went suddenly black.
No one knew what had happened or how it had happened. No one knew how much time had gone by. But they all were aware that something had happened. Everyone was stuck in a world of darkness, all alone. The slightest presence of their neighbors could not be detected. It was the worst thing that anyone on the islands had ever experienced.
Before the storm, everyone was accounted for except for three adolescents: Kairi, Riku, and Sora. Once everything had returned to normal, their families began a frantic search for them. Kairi was soon discovered riding in a small boat in the harbor coming back to the mainland from the smaller, uninhabited island that all the children usually hung out on.
She was brought into the police station and asked many questions, most of them repeated. Though she kept retelling the same story:
"We were building a raft. We were going to go exploring on the ocean. When the storm hit I got worried about the raft and went to check on it. Then the world went black, just like it did for all of you."
But there came a voice from the back of the room and a man spoke, "She was with them before the Blackout. I saw her and that Riku boy go out in their boats. A few minutes later I saw that Sora lad do the same."
Kairi cringed. She knew that being placed with them before their disappearance would make it harder to explain herself.
"Well, I did go out to check on the raft. Riku had had the same idea and we went out to the island to check on it together. Then a few minutes later Sora turned up to check on the raft as well, and then the world went suddenly black. I woke up in the same spot I was in before the 'Black Out,' but Sora and Riku were gone."
This, of course, was only the half-truth. Kairi thought back to the night of the storm.
She had gone to check on the raft and discovered Riku down at the docks getting into his boat to do the same. The two of them went out together. When they reached the other island, they jumped out and raced across the beach. But Riku suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky. Some type of glowing sphere had appeared there. A strange smile formed on Riku's lips.
He turned to look at her. "Let's go get a closer look!" he said, grabbing her hand and beginning to lead her closer.
Kairi wouldn't move. "No, Riku."
"Come on, Kairi!" he replied, pulling harder.
"No Riku!" Kairi shouted, pulling her hand free. "I don't trust it!"
Riku seemed as if he was rather annoyed with her. "Fine, then stay here. I'm going."
"Riku, wait! I have a really bad feeling about this!" she pleaded with him.
He was already walking away when he said, "Stay here. I'll be back," without turning to look at her.
Kairi remained on the beach for a moment, watching Riku go, but then something got her attention. She turned around to face an old tree growing out of the side of a cliff. At the bottom of the tree covered by branches was a small cave everyone called "The Secret Place". She wasn't sure, but it almost seemed as if there was someone there, calling her to enter, though she heard no voice.
Taking no heed of what was going on around her, Kairi slowly walked towards the Secret Place. She entered and went along the narrow path that went up into the cliff. She soon came to a circular room in the cave. The walls were covered in drawings that resulted from children scraping rocks along them. At the other side stood a door. The door had always been there, but no one knew if it even led anywhere. But there was something strange about it now. It had a keyhole, something that it had never had before.
Kairi approached the door and stood in front of it, staring. She couldn't take her eyes off it. She began to go into a kind of trance. Her whole body began to feel weak, like she could fall over at any moment, yet she remained standing.
Suddenly, Kairi was brought back to her senses by a voice from behind her.
"Kairi!" came the voice.
Slowly she turned around, half in a sleepy daze, to see who was behind her. It was Sora.
"Sora…" was all she managed to say. There came a great gust of wind and she found herself flying forward. She could see Sora getting closer, trying to keep his footing in the wind. She was going to crash into him! But just as she thought she could feel his arms wrapping around her to catch her, the world suddenly went dark, and she was alone.
"And the last place you saw them was on the beach?" a policeman had asked.
"Yes. When I awoke from the darkness, they were just…gone."
"Are you telling the truth?"
"Yes," she calmly replied.
Of course, Kairi wasn't. The last place that she had seen Riku was in the grand hall of a castle in a place called Hollow Bastion. This is where Kairi had found herself when she awoke from the darkness. It was a ghostly image of Riku, and he was doing his best to hold back a man by the name of Ansem.
"No, I won't let you use me for this!" Riku cried.
"Riku?" Kairi asked, disbelieving all that she was seeing.
Riku looked at her, fear in his eyes. "You gotta run! The heartless are coming!"
Then the last place that she had seen Sora was, well, she wasn't sure exactly where it was. Kairi had been reunited with Sora, but he had had to leave her. It had been explained to Kairi that Sora was the one who had been chosen to wield a mysterious weapon known as the Keyblade, and that he was the only one who could stop Ansem and save all the worlds in existence.
She had waited for Sora's return in a place called Traverse Town when she suddenly found herself somewhere else. It seemed to be a sort of endless abyss. Sora was there, and he ran to her and took her hand, but once again, he'd have to leave her. Kairi let out a deep sigh as she remembered the last thing Sora said to her.
"Kairi! Remember what you said before? I'm always with you, too. I'll come back to you, I promise!"
Their hands were ripped apart as the ground beneath them split.
"I know you will!" she cried out to him.
Kairi had begun to grow afraid that she would be questioned all night, but then her grandmother had entered the room.
"If my Kairi says that she's telling the truth, then she is. I think that we've all been through enough, and Lord knows she must be worried enough about her two best friends as it is. She doesn't need you people hounding her all night long!"
That was the worst part of it for Kairi. No one seemed to believe her, yet her grandmother did, and Kairi wasn't even telling the truth. But what could she do? Kairi knew that the other worlds were supposed to remain a secret. If she were to tell what actually happened, it could spell disaster.
So Kairi spent most of her days on this small island, away from everyone else. Away from the stares, away from the whispers. The other kids rarely ever crossed the bridge when she was there. But she also spent a lot of time on the opposite side of the larger island where the raft was. No one had touched it, and sometimes Kairi would just sit on it and think. She imagined what things would have been like if she, Sora and Riku had been allowed to carry out their original plans.
"I suppose I'd better go home now," Kairi said to herself. She turned to climb off the tree when something caught her eye.
Instead of coconuts, what grew on this tree was an odd fruit in the shape of a star. It was called paupu fruit, and it had been said that if two people were to share one, their destinies would become intertwined. One of them hung loosely from the top of the tree and twisted in the wind. Then it's twig snapped and it began to fall, but Kairi quickly reached out her hand and caught it, almost falling off the tree herself.
"No use letting you go to waste," she said to it as if she expected it to thank her for catching it.
Kairi slid off the tree, landed on her feet, and crossed the bridge over to the larger island. As she crossed the beach to the dock where her boat was tied, she glanced over to the entrance to the secret place, then at the paupu fruit in her hand. She remembered the first time she had ever been in the secret place.
She, Riku, and Sora had been friends for only a few months. It was just after the start of the school year, and the three of them were doing their homework. Kairi had finished and was silently sitting on the paupu tree. Riku was sitting at the foot of it attempting to tutor Sora, who was on the verge of ripping his hair out in frustration.
"You're making it harder than it is, Sora!" Riku sighed.
"No I'm not! It really is this hard!" Sora snapped in defense.
"I didn't have any problems with it," Riku replied coolly.
"Well, we can't all be good at everything, now can we?" Sora rolled his eyes which then went wide when he realized his remark had been a bit uncalled for.
Riku jumped to his feet, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Sora slowly stood up and met his gaze. There was a short pause, and then he replied, "Nothing. Never mind, let's forget it."
But Riku put his hands on his hips and stood there looking at Sora as if he was still expecting an explanation. He never got one, however, because at that moment there came a loud whistle from down on the dock.
"It's my sister. I gotta go home now." Riku packed up his things and headed for the bridge. "See you guys tomorrow."
"Bye Riku!" Kairi called after him.
"Bye," Sora said softly.
Riku came from a family of four children: one girl and three boys. His sister was the oldest, and of the three boys, he was the one in the middle. His father was a successful, respectable businessman and his mother was a social butterfly of the worst sort.
Sora's family was relatively normal. His parents were well-liked, kind people. He was currently an only child, though in a few months he would no longer be.
"Oh, come off it, Sora. He's only trying to help you!" Kairi said to him.
"Well, sometimes I wish he wouldn't," Sora replied, looking out at the ocean with his arms crossed in front of him.
"He's your best friend! He cares about you!" she added.
Sora gave a deep sigh, then turned his head to look at her, a slight smirk spreading across his face. "Want to see something really cool?"
"Like what?"
"It's a secret. Only me, Riku, Tidus, and Wakka know about it, but I think Tidus and Wakka might've shown Selphie.
"What is it?" Kairi asked, very intrigued.
"Come with me," Sora replied, grabbing his things and heading across the bridge. Kairi followed suit.
Sora took her down to the large tree growing out of the cliff. He pushed away a few branches near the base to reveal the entrance to a tunnel.
"Wow!" Kairi squealed.
"We call it the 'Secret Place'. Let's go!" said Sora, entering the tunnel.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course! I've been in here lots of times!"
Kairi was afraid at first. She gripped Sora's left arm very tightly and kept close behind him as they made their way through the tunnel. When they got to the circular room at the end, Kairi's jaw dropped. She was now more fascinated than anything else by what she saw.
"Check this out," said Sora, holding a rock. He bent down onto his knees and scraped the rock along the wall, leaving a white line. He continued scraping the wall until he made a circle (or something close to a circle). Then with the rock he drew an eye, a nose, a mouth, and hair to create a head turned sideways.
Sora looked at Kairi and flashed his signature, toothy grin. "It's you!"
Kairi picked up another rock and began to scrape it along the wall, creating another head. When she was done, she turned to Sora. "And that's you!"
Kairi smiled at the memory, and then again at the memory of what she discovered the day she returned to the islands. Someone had drawn an arm from Sora's head to her head, and in it's hand was a paupu fruit. She knew that that someone had to of been Sora, and it had to of been before the fateful night of the storm, perhaps even that day, for she had never noticed it before. Kairi had taken up a rock and drawn the same thing, only reaching from her head to Sora's.
As Kairi got into her boat, she suddenly found herself sniffling. Then her eyes began to sting, and she let out a heavy sob. She missed her friends very much. She was all alone and carrying a very large secret that she very desperately wanted to tell. The weight of everything that had happened came upon her then, and she cried for a good while in her boat. It was well after dark before she had calmed down enough to start back to the main land.
When she reached the docks, Kairi tied her boat in the normal spot, climbed out, and proceeded down the street toward her home. Not many people were still out in the streets, and those that were paid no heed to Kairi in the dark. She stopped at the end of a particularly brightly lit street near the ocean. It had large, beautiful houses along it. Down a ways, right before the street made a sharp turn to the left, stood a familiar house; Riku's. His mother stood atop the front steps tapping her foot, her arms folded as two boys slowly made their way up.
"There you two are! We've been worried sick!" she scolded. As the boys walked past her, she looked up, right at Kairi. They both stood there, staring for what seemed like an eternity, though it was only around two or three seconds. Then Kairi quickly looked away and began walking again away from the brightly-lit street.
She continued down the street heading further into the island. The houses steadily grew smaller and less grand, though they were still nice. Soon Kairi took a right and headed down another street. Here the land curved inwards, and a few of the houses on this street sat on the ocean as well, but they weren't anywhere near as fancy as the houses where Riku lived.
Kairi slowly walked along the street. She passed a small, two-story house with a small, postage-stamp yard. A little boy sat out in front of it in the light of the street lamp playing with little toy boats. He was almost the mirror image of Sora, only seven years younger.
"Hi Kairi!" the little boy waved.
"Hi Caleb," Kairi replied.
"Wanna play pirates? I just got a new ship, see?" Caleb held up one of his boats.
Kairi stopped for a moment. "That really sounds like fun, but I have to get home."
"Okay," Caleb sighed, "How 'bout tomorrow?"
"Sure, Caleb. That would be great."
"Woo!" Caleb chimed, sticking a fist in the air.
"Caleb, are you still out here? Time for dinner!" came a man who stuck his head out the front door. It was Sora's father.
"Okay. Bye Kairi!" and with that, Caleb snatched up all his boats and headed into the house.
Sora's father was startled to see Kairi standing there. When Caleb rushed passed him into the house, he stepped out the door.
"Hey Kairi, how are you?" he said.
"I'm fine…you?" she replied.
"Oh, I'm okay. We're all okay."
"That's good," Kairi looked at her feet, then back up. "Well I gotta go. Goodnight." She turned to start walking away, but he spoke again.
"You know, for what it's worth, despite what Riku's father might say, we don't believe that you are responsible for Sora's disappearance."
Kairi turned to look at him. "Thanks," she managed.
"Well, you'd better get on home now. Your grandmother will be worried."
Kairi smiled, then turned around and continued to walk home. It wasn't far now, and within a few minutes she was walking through her front door.
"Getting home a bit late, are we?" asked Kairi's grandmother from a rocking chair sitting in front of a fireplace.
"Sorry, Grandma," Kairi replied, "I took the long way home."
Her grandmother turned around in her chair and looked at her. "Have you been crying?"
"What?" Kairi quickly glanced at a mirror hanging nearby on the wall. Her eyes were indeed still red and slightly puffy.
"I can hear it in your voice, and now that I look at you, I can see it in your eyes."
Kairi turned around and shut the door. She stood there facing it for a moment with her right hand upon it. She lowered her head and squeezed her eyes together. She took a deep breath, held it for a second, then lifted her head and spoke in a broken voice.
"Grandma, I have so much that I want to tell you."
"Pull up a chair then, my dear, and tell me."
"But I'm not sure if I can!"
"You can tell me anything, Kairi, you know that."
Kairi turned around and walked over to the kitchen table. She placed the paupu fruit in a fruit bowl that sat upon it, then grabbed a chair and carried it over to the fireplace. She set it next to the rocking chair and sat down.
"What I say can't leave this room," Kairi began.
"It won't," her grandmother replied.
Kairi took a deep breath and continued. "I have been lying to you; to everyone. I do know what happened to Sora and Riku. I didn't wake up on the beach after the black out. I've…I've been back to Hollow Bastion!"
Kairi proceeded to tell her grandmother all that had happened. She told her about waking up in Hollow Bastion, about the heartless, about the keyblade, about the last times that she saw Riku and Sora.
When Kairi finally finished, her grandmother was silent. After about a minute she finally spoke.
"Oh my dear. What a burden it is that you have been forced to carry. I had hoped that it would not happen this way, and that you would be older."
"What?" Kairi asked in surprise. "You…you knew?"
"That you were a princess, yes, but not that Sora would come to wield the keyblade nor did I know that Riku would be taken by Ansem."
"But why didn't you tell me?" the young girl asked slowly.
Kairi's grandmother looked at her granddaughter with very sad eyes. "I wanted to wait until you were older. I thought I had more time. I thought there would be signs."
Kairi stared into the fire, the corners of her eyes beginning to sting again.
"What do I do?"
"I do not know, child. If I did I would tell you. I would be right there along side you to help you. But as it stands I can do nothing. Except…" the old woman stood and walked over to a nearby bookshelf. She removed a dusty old volume that had been sitting on the shelf for years. Kairi had never looked at it herself; she knew better than to disturb Grandma's things.
The old woman came back and rotated her rocking chair so that it faced Kairi directly. She then sat down, the book in her lap.
"Do you remember, Kairi, that I would read to you as a child in the library in the castle at Hollow Bastion?"
"Maybe a little, now. I had forgotten everything before but I've begun to remember."
"I used to tell you a story about how all the worlds were connected, but then split by peoples' unwillingness to share the light."
"Yes, I do remember that story! Everything was shrouded in darkness, but the children…they used the light in their hearts to restore the worlds!"
"But the worlds remained separated. To this very day," Grandma finished.
Kairi gave her a very puzzled look. But the woman only smiled.
"Yes, my dear. The story is true."
"How do you know all this, Grandma?"
Her grandmother lifted the book out of her lap and held it up for her granddaughter to see. "This is how."
Kairi took the book from her grandmother and opened it. As she flipped through the pages she saw the chronicles of many stories. There was one about the beginning of the world, the story of the children and how all the worlds separated, even a story about the seven Princesses of Heart. She also noticed quite few about the keyblade.
"What is this?" the young girl asked.
"It is everything that you will need to know."
"Where did you get it?"
"The king himself gave it to me."
At this Kairi looked up, "You mean king Mickey?"
Her grandmother nodded. "So you know of the king."
"Well, I've never met him, but I've heard people talk about him."
"I'm sure one day you will."
The two of them smiled at each other.
"Well, it is time I turned in for the night." Grandma stood up, as did Kairi. The two embraced and kissed each other on the cheek and said goodnight. The old woman made her way to the stairs and went up to her bedroom while the young girl remained downstairs.
Kairi took her chair back over to the kitchen table and sat down to read the book. She was eager to learn all that she could as fast as possible. She read the stories in order, but soon found herself counting the pages left until she would get to the part about the keyblade. Finally, she decided that she would come back to the rest later; she was far too eager to learn anything that may pertain to Riku and Sora.
The stories about the keyblade took her very much by surprise. One suggested that the wielder of the blade brought peace to all worlds, while another talked about how he wrought chaos and ruin upon it.
"I don't believe it. Neither Sora nor Riku would do that, would they?" she asked herself. But after what she had heard about Riku, she wondered if it might be true.
After spending much time studying the keyblade stories, she tried to go back and read what she had skipped over. But by this time it had gotten to be very late and Kairi was finding it hard to keep her eyes open. Eventually she succumbed to sleep.
Gathered around a bonfire under a tree along a road that was far, far away, or perhaps not so far, as it was a path between worlds, were three companions. They had traveled for quite some time and were now resting for the night.
Two of them were asleep, but the third sat upright, his back against the tree. He had been finding it hard to sleep the past few nights. A tiny feeling of sadness and loneliness had been tugging at him deep down. It was a feeling he could not fight, although he did not understand why he was feeling this way.
The boy grabbed a thick blade of grass, placed it between his hands, and blew. It made a very odd, low sound, and was loud enough to wake one of his companions, a short fellow with white feathers a bill like a duck.
"What was that?" he demanded.
"Sorry, Donald, that was me," the boy answered sheepishly.
"Well knock it off, will ya? I'm trying to sleep!" the duck quacked at him bitterly.
"Sora? Donald? What's goin' on?" asked the third member of the trio, sleepily, sitting up.
"It's nothing, Goofy, go back to sleep," Donald quacked again at the tall dog.
"Okay." And with that, Goofy fell back and began to snore immediately. He had never fully awakened.
Donald gave Sora one last look of annoyance before falling back himself. Sora chuckled to himself before relaxing again against the tree.
It was then that Kairi awoke. She had heard something in the living room behind her, but wasn't sure what. She groggily lifted her head off of the open pages of the book.
"Grandma?" she asked as she turned around in her chair. But once she was fully around to see what was there, she did not see Grandma. Instead, sitting on the floor in front of the fire, his back against the rocking chair, was Sora. Kairi jumped to her feat in surprise.
"Sora!" she cried.
Upon hearing his name, Sora looked up. There, a few feet away from him, just beyond the low hanging branches of the tree, stood Kairi. He immediately got to his feet and, forgetting all about his sleeping companions, said, "Kairi?"
Kairi ran out of the kitchen into the living room and threw her arms around her friend. She half wanted to cry, but mostly she laughed out loud. Sora began to laugh, too, as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.
They broke apart and looked at each other.
"What are you doing here, Kairi?" Sora asked.
"What do you mean? I live here," Kairi replied, very confused.
Sora looked around and laughed. "No you don't."
Kairi could only raise her eyebrows. "Yes I do. This is my living room."
Now it was Sora's turn to raise his eyebrows. "You're living room? But, we're out in the middle of nowhere standing under a tree." He gestured toward the fire. "Don't you see the bonfire? Donald? Goofy?"
Kairi looked in the direction he was pointing. "All I see is my fireplace."
"But…how…?" Sora began.
There was a look of dawning comprehension on Kairi's face. "You aren't really here, are you?"
"I…I don't really know. Are you?"
"Are we dreaming?"
"Uh…" Sora had an idea. "Donald! Goofy! Wake up!" But Sora's two sleeping travel companions did not wake up.
"Grandma? Grandma!" Kairi called. But even after a few moments there was no sign that her grandmother had heard her.
Kairi looked at the fire. "We are dreaming."
Sora frowned. "Maybe." Then he reached out and grabbed her hands, smiling when she looked at him. "But it's a good, dream, right?"
Kairi couldn't help but smile back. "The best!"
The two of them sat down in front of the fire.
"So how have you been, Sora?"
Sora took a deep breath. "Oh, you know, same ol' same ol'. How about you."
"Good, I guess. Although it's kind of lonely without you and Riku around. I miss you."
"I miss you, too, Kairi. And Riku. We still haven't found him or King Mickey."
"I'm sure you will, Sora. I know it."
It was at that moment that Sora's stomach growled. Kairi giggled as Sora put his hands on it and grinned slyly. "And yeah, the food isn't too great around here."
"Would you like me to get you something?"
"Would you?"
"Sure thing!" with that Kairi got to her feet and sprang to the kitchen. She found nothing of interest in the refrigerator, but there was a bag of chips in a cupboard. On her way past the table she grabbed the fruit bowl and the book and went back into the living room and sat down by the fire.
"You're the best, Kairi!" said Sora before stuffing his face full of chips.
The two friends sat there near the fire, Kairi in the living room and Sora under the tree, and talked for a good while. Kairi showed Sora the book her grandmother had given her, and they spent a good amount of time reading over parts of it while snacking on chips and fruit as the night dragged on. Sooner than they had hoped the chips were all eaten, but at least they still had fruit. Sora absent-mindedly reached into the fruit bowl and took a piece. Just before he bit down, however, he stopped and examined what it was he was holding.
"A paupu fruit?" It had two tiny green leaves on top.
"Oh! I forgot about that! It fell off a tree and I caught it," Kairi said hastily, reaching to grab the fruit from Sora. But when she placed her hand on it, Sora didn't let go. Instead, Sora calmly pulled the fruit away, broke it in half, and handed a piece to her.
"What's this?" she asked.
"Insurance. To make sure that no matter what happens we will see each other again." Sora gave a small, closed-mouth smile, as if he were afraid Kairi might think it was a dumb idea.
"That sounds nice. I like it," she replied, taking the paupu fruit half from Sora. They ate in silence, each barely able to contain a smile.
When they had finished they suddenly both began to feel tired. Sora gave a great big yawn, which, due to their highly contagious nature, he passed on to Kairi. But neither one wanted to fall asleep, for who knew what the morning would bring? Probably another long period of time before they saw each other again.
Sora mentioned that it was cold and Kairi went and got a blanket to curl up in. They both sat together in front of the fire, wrapped up in the blanket's warmth. Kairi began to yawn more often and her eyes became hard to keep open.
"How long until all this is over, Sora? How long until we're together again?"
"Hopefully not long at all. But I really don't know, Kairi."
Without realizing it, Kairi had slumped against him. "Just…remember," she managed between yawns, "No matter where you go, I'm always with you."
Sora put his arm around her to keep her from falling over.
"I'll come back to you, I promise," he replied, echoing words he had said to her once before.
When Kairi had awoken the next morning, she was still in front of the fireplace, tangled up in the blanket. The chip bag lay crumpled beside the book and half-empty fruit bowl, and the fire had long since gone out. There came the sound of clanking dishes and the smell of food being cooked in the kitchen. Kairi sat up, yawned, and rubbed her eyes.
"Oh, good morning sleepy head. I was wondering if you were going to get up at all today," came the voice of her grandmother.
"What time is it?" Kairi asked groggily.
"Why it's nearly noon. I take it you were up all night reading that book?"
"Huh?" It took a few seconds before Kairi remembered the book. "Oh, yes, yes. I was."
Her grandmother paused what she was doing and turned to face Kairi. "Are you going to be okay?"
It was then that Kairi felt something else under her hand on the floor. It was the pit of a paupu fruit, with two tiny green leaves still attached at the top. She smiled.
"Yes, Grandma. I think I'm going to be just fine."
Elsewhere, Donald and Goofy tried with great difficulty to rouse their human companion.
"Sora! Sora! Wake up, Sora!" quacked Donald.
"It's time from breakfast," chimed Goofy.
"Huh? Wha'? Oh," he moaned, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.
As the trio ate breakfast, Sora felt sort of odd in his stomach. He quit eating after only a few bites.
"What's wrong, Sora? Are ya sick?" asked Goofy.
"No. I'm just…full already." And Sora, remembering what he had thought was a dream, smiled.
fin
:waves: Hello, all! I'm so glad to see that you have made it to the end! Now go make a dentist appointment. Go on! Get! But after you've done that, make sure you check out the special features disc.