Author's Note: Utterly pointless little drabble I came up with when I asked a friend to give me inspiration for SoKai fluff. She said "spaghetti". I, uh...went with that. This isn't AU, it's just post-adventure calm. You never know, they probably have Italian restaurants on Destiny Islands.
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Bella Notte
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Riku stared down at the menu.
"Um...how do you even pronounce this?"
Sora reached over and pulled the top down, peering at it upside-down, scrunching his nose.
"Um...ca...cala...calamari."
"What the hell is that?"
"Squid," Kairi said, sticking her tongue out.
"Okay, scratch that one," Riku said, turning a page and brushing his long silver bangs out of the way. "Isn't there anything normal to eat?"
"Where's the pizza?" Sora asked, flipping through. "Isn't pizza Italian?"
Kairi stifled a giggle. "Not here, it isn't. What do you want pizza for? You've had it almost every day for the past week."
"Hey, hey, hey," Sora said, laying the menu back down and putting his hands up in defense. "You'd want pizza too if all you've had for the past year is dried stock on the gummi ship. I'm never eating freeze-dried ice cream again."
"Yeah," Riku added. "I didn't get a decent meal until Twilight Town."
The waiter was milling around a few tables away. Kairi sat up, scanning quickly down the row.
"What about spaghetti?" she said, turning her menu around and tapping the spot with her finger. "A huge bowl. I don't think any of us can finish one by ourselves."
"Sounds good to me," Sora said, snapping his shut and putting it down on the table, Riku following suit. "But...don't they at least have fries?"
Riku smacked Sora lightly on the back of the head, and he objected quietly, bringing his voice down.
"Ow..."
Kairi laughed. "You two give up too easily. We go to a niceItalian restaurant, and you have to order the simplest thing on the menu."
Riku looked pointedly away, drumming his fingers on the table. "So?"
"At least you dressed properly. I didn't even know you owned nice clothes," Kairi said, looking her two friends over with a keen eye.
"Hey, we didn't know you did either, hotshot," Riku said, mock-defensively, grinning. Kairi huffed and looked to Sora for help.
"Hey, Riku, I happen to think that Kairi looks--" he said, suddenly stumbling over words for a second. "--very--pretty."
Kairi felt her cheeks redden as she looked at her lap. She wore her necklace, a white v-neck top, and some jade green capris with straw sandals. It wasn't anything special, but all the same--
Riku looked amusedly from Kairi to Sora, who had become intensely interested in folding his cloth napkin back up the way it had been when they'd arrived.
"Are you all set?" a voice suddenly said from behind, and Sora sat up straight in startlement, looking up at the waiter's face.
"Um...yeah...we'll have your biggest bowl of spaghetti--" he said, looking down at the menu with a cocked eyebrow. "With, um, three forks."
Kairi snorted, covering her laugh with her napkin as the waiter took the menus away.
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"Yup, this is it."
Riku knelt on the dock, pointing over the edge at something in the water below. Kairi and Sora hovered behind, the warm salt breeze making the lights above the marina flicker.
"Whoa," Sora said, whistling. "Definitely not fair."
A dark red, gleaming rowboat was tossing lightly in the small waves, tied to the thick plank Riku had rented at the beginning of the summer.
"Yeah, pretty sweet," Riku said, flashing a cocky grin. "I had a lot of extra munny left over from...well, you know. Anyway, it holds three people. Might make trips to the other island easier."
"Aw, cool!" Kairi smiled.
Riku stretched upward. "What time is it?"
Sora pulled a watch out of his pocket. "Er, 11:52."
"I think the marina closes at midnight. We'd better be heading back," Kairi said, looking for a second at the dark shadow against the twilight sky that was their island.
Sora put his hands back in his pockets. "Want us to take the long way and run by your house, Riku?"
"Nah, that's okay. I think I heard your mom say something about midnight, right?" the older boy answered, cocking a sly grin. Sora scowled and elbowed him in the side.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"See you kids tomorrow," Riku said, waving lazily over his shoulder as he started down the dock ahead of them. Sora and Kairi followed, walking side-by-side.
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"You think Riku'll actually pay you back for his part of dinner tonight?" Kairi asked Sora as they stopped in front of the mayor's house.
"Nah," Sora replied, grinning, putting his hands behind his head. "I might have to beat it out of him."
"And I'll keep the bandages on hand for when you two get carried away," she said knowledgeably, crossing her arms loftily.
"Sure," he said. "Well...that was fun. Let's do it again sometime."
"Yeah," she replied. After a second's hesitation, she reached out and hugged him. He returned it, smiling against her shoulder. He let her go somewhat awkwardly, but her dancing eyes eased his anxiety.
"See you tomorrow?" she asked, more stating it as a fact than requesting.
"Yeah," he said, nodding. "Oh, hey, Kairi...you've got some spaghetti sauce on your face--"
"I do?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Where?"
"Right side of your lips," he said, looking at the offending spot. Kairi traced one finger over it, seeing some red coming off onto the tip. She rubbed at it, then moved it away, looking to Sora for confirmation.
"Did I get it?"
Sora's heart sped up a notch as he replied. "No, here, let me get it..."
He leaned closer, his hand coming up to her face to rub the spot away, but stopped suddenly. Before she could even wrap her mind around it, she felt soft lips press lightly against the corner of her mouth.
Light. Light and warmth. Kairi's eyes fluttered closed as something inside her lifted and spread, a wonderful feeling...
Sora pulled away after just a second. Kairi still had her eyes closed. He stared at her, an almost scared look on his face, his shoulders tense.
Her eyes flew open, and her fingers came up to brush her lips. She looked up in wonder at him.
"There," he said, a little hoarsely. He cleared his throat. "All...all gone."
...did I seriously just kiss her?
Kairi could feel the blush rising in her cheeks.
That was my first kiss...
"Th--thanks," she murmured, her voice almost a squeak.
Their eyes met again, and he smiled tentatively, looking almost a bit guilty. Kairi found she was smiling too.
She realized how close they were standing to one another. Her whole front wasnearly againsthis, her hand caught lightly between them, against his beating heart.
She's--she's never stood this close to me before--
Kairi lifted her chin, and watched Sora's eyes flutter closed, and she felt his lips brush hers again. She wanted to feel his kiss again, needed that light to come back...
Sora kissed her full on the lips this time, tenderly and gently, just enough to take her breath away. He felt Kairi melt into his grasp, and his hands went around her slim frame to hold her lightly about the waist.
Kairi kissed him back, her hands resting lightly on the front of his shirt, that feeling of sheer light and warmth welling up again. Her mind was a flurry, her heart was racing, her knees were weakening in happiness. This was what she wanted, what had been missing since she'd remembered his name.
He pecked her lightly on the lips once more before he pulled away, resting his forehead against hers. Her lips followed his blindly, unconsciously, for a split second, and he smiled softly.
She kept her hands resting on him, looking up at him in awe, her face positively glowing.
Did she have to leave this spot?
"...'night," he said, almost sadly. He didn't want to leave either.
A small ache tugged at her heart, that she'd have to force herself to wait an entire night just to be with him again. With Sora. But she knew.
"...goodnight, Sora."
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How's that for pure, sticky, gooey, sugary fluff? Meh, take it or leave it. Leave reviews, please.