Author's Note: Sorry sorry! School's been sucking up most of my time, so this story had to be put on hold. I was going to update this sooner, but I thought it would be kind of odd if I didn't post it during the Christmas season. Awright then!

To all my reviewers, thanks a bunchies! I hope you guys like this chappie! I'm such a bad writer person...I don't get writer's block, but writer's laziness!

Disclaimer: Square-Enix and Disney owns Kingdom Hearts, not me. Like anyone would believe me if I said so.



The Magic of Three

Chapter 3: A Festival of Heartbreak and Sorrow


"It's snowing! I can't believe it!" Selphie squealed, twirling herself in circles while catching the soft flakes. "It only snows up in the mountain!"

Tidus was gaping at the sky, and Wakka was just plain appalled.

One person did not gape in awe at this unlikely phenomenon, although she had stared up into the sky a few seconds ago. Kairi was looking at the snowflakes that had floated gently onto her hand. They hadn't melted yet, but there was just something about them. She smiled wistfully, her mind reaching into her pool of memories...

"Wait--there's an island with a humongous mountain at the top?"

"Yeah...That's what I said." The silver-haired boy swiped at a nearby pebble with his slightly chipped wooden sword. Sora hopped off the paopu tree. Finally, something new.

"How come I've never heard of it before!"

"Because nobody told you yet."

"How do you know then?"

"Because I'm a good eavesdropper."

"Don't you ever wonder wh-"

"SORA! Quit asking me these dumb questions!" Riku snapped.

"Hee hee..."

Both Riku and Sora quickly turned their heads.

"Finally! Why are you late, Kairi?" Sora asked playfully, crossing his arms.

Riku snapped a leaf off of the paopu tree and crumpled it up into a ball. He flung it at the chestnut-haired boy, causing a yelp to escape from him. Kairi giggled at this.

"Hey! What was that for!" he said, brushing his spiky hair with his fingers, just in case Riku had managed to throw some other item at him.

Disregarding his question, Riku told Kairi, "Just ignore him. He'll keep asking you questions if you don't."

"I will not!" he cried. "I'm just surprised that I've never seen or heard of this big mountain-island-thing. I mean, wouldn't we have noticed by now?"

"Actually..." she began to say. She stared at the ground a bit, fumbling with the seams in her skirt.

"Yeah? What is it?" Riku asked. Kairi always remembered how curious Riku was.

"The mayor was talking about it the other day. He said-"

"Wait--why don't the adults know anything about it?" Sora interjected, not realizing that he had rudely cut Kairi off.

"Sora! Do you want me to throw a paopu fruit at you next? Huh!"

"Um, the mayor said it wasn't there before. That's why. It was never in our island chain. He said it just popped up overnight." Kairi crawled up onto Riku's tree and started walking across it as if it were a tight rope. "The funny thing is," she continued, '"there's snow on top of it."

"ACTUAL SNOW? Wow! Let's go! I can't believe it! Sn-mmmfff!"

Kairi stopped and looked over her shoulder. Riku was grinning. He'd skillfully shoved a whole clump of rolled-up leaves into Sora's mouth, and was thoroughly enjoying the look on his friend's face. "If you wanna act like a snow-obsessed geek Sora, don't do it in front of me. You're going to make any normal person passing by think that Kairi and I are as weird as you."

Kairi laughed and continued to have fun, talking about this strange new island, which, now that she thought about it, probably was a remnant of another world...


Finally, the group reached the festival. Twilight was near, so the sun was beginning its steady descent into slumber. Already, people were plugging up the entrance. The group of teens had to squeeze through a pack of adults just to get inside. Selphie, automatically claiming the roll of leader for herself, chose a small clearing with a view of the sea. "See? I know all the romantic spots," she exclaimed confidently, presenting the area as if it were a grand prize in some game.

Kairi giggled. Selphie sure acted silly sometimes.

"So whaddaya want to do now?" Wakka asked. Even though the air was starting to cool down, he was still sweating profusely under all that styrofoam bulk. The orange and red scarf only made it worse.

"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna head over to the buffet table. That platter of burgers over there is calling out my name. 'Tidus! Tidus! Come 'n eat us!'"

"Stupid weirdo."

"What? You're a girl. You wouldn't understand a guy's relationship with food."

"Kairi! That means he'd rather dance with a burger than with me!"

"What! Dance!"

Kairi stepped in between the quarreling couple. "All right you two. Tidus, you can't eat yet. You've gone here every year. You should know that already. And Selphie--," she turned to the female rendition of Rudolph, "--dancing starts in about twenty-five minutes. Don't hurt Tidus too much, okay?"

The blonde's jaw dropped in disbelief, while Selphie giggled and slapped him on the back. "Let's go take a walk, Tidus!" She grabbed his wrist and dragged the elf boy towards the lighted foliage. Kairi wasn't absolutely sure, but she thought she heard Tidus muttering, "She actually sold me off to this hyper maniac..."

Kairi smiled softly. Now she remembered why she didn't want to hang out with these guys. All the little things that they did...Just watching them reminded her too much of what she'd lost.

Wakka coughed, left alone at the base of a nearby palm tree. Kairi turned to him, momentarily forgetting that it was Wakka standing there and not an oversized snowman.

"I'm going to take these packages to the Tree, if that's all right wit' you." He lifted the blue plastic bag, which was so full that the sides were tearing.

She nodded, and Wakka left. A few children tackled him as he entered the mass of excited humans, but Kairi didn't notice.

The girl stood there, watching the crowd. If anybody had bothered to stop and study her face, they might've noticed the pained expression fighting to get out

This was why she'd never wanted to come until they came back. She didn't want to admit this, but...Inside, she hated all this. She hated that they could easily forget what'd really happened during the storm. She hated that they were so happy after something so disastrous. Was she to be cursed with the memory, while everyone else led blissful lives? And most of all...she hated that she was suffering quietly, a young woman dependent on wisps of memories, while the friends still here didn't so much as have a care in the world. She hated it.

About twenty minutes later, Selphie and Tidus returned, the brunette grinning widely.

"Something happen?" Kairi asked, quick to hide away any traces of her depression.

"Yup! I got Tidus here to finally agree to dance with me! Right, elfy boy?"

Tidus glared at her and, through clenched teeth, growled, "Right."

Selphie clapped her hands. "But first, let's eat. I'm starved! What about you?"

Kairi opened her mouth, but Tidus cut in, dropping to his knees and grasping Selphie's hands. "Pleaseletmegoooo! ThisistortureI'msohungryletmegoooo!" he wailed.

Selphie pretended to ponder this for a second, then nodded. "All right, if you're that hungry. But only take food from the snack table, not the one with the main dishes! Remember last year? The cooking ladies got really mad because a certain someone took the feast food before it even started!"

Tidus scowled. "I'm not that immature!" But still, did look happy.

The boy left anxiously for the table, while Selphie had to pull Kairi along. "I'm not hungry Selphie," she muttered, but the brunette simply walked faster. The table was covered with a huge assortment of sweets, including tree-shaped cookies topped with sprinkles, cheesecakes, cupcakes smattered with red frosting, and many other treats that Kairi did not care to identify.

"Here." Selphie pushed a cookie into her hand. "C'mon Kairi, binge once in a while! It's Christmas!"

Kairi examined the green thing, and decided that nibbling a little would please her friend. "Remember that you promised to have fun," Selphie added, choosing a cupcake for herself.

Nnnn. Yeah, she did promise that.

"Boy! Get away from that platter!" And old woman came up and pulled hard on Tidus' ear. He yelped and dropped the chocolate he was holding. "I remember you! So now this year you decide to empty the snack table? There are hundreds of people here! Don't ruin their day by taking all the desserts!" Then, after making sure that Tidus promised to obey, she marched off.

That happened to Sora, the last time he was at the festival. Three years ago.

Something caught in her throat. She felt like crying at that moment, and she would've if a snowman didn't come and trip into the scene, being mauled by a bunch of small children singing 'Wakka the Snowman.'

"Help me man! They won't go away!" he cried, trying to reach out a hand in vain.

Selphie smirked down at him. "I told you. But did you listen? Noooooo." Tidus was choking on a cookie he had snuck into his pocket earlier. Selphie managed to slap him into breathing again.

Wakka looked up helplessly to Kairi. Even thought it was funny, she decided that she really should help him. She didn't really know how, though. Then, she remembered the snack table. "Hey, do you guys want some cookies?"

One of the children stopped. "Cookies? Where?" She pointed to the table, and the child ran off squealing, "Coooookies!" The other children noticed and they too soon emptied off of Wakka's back. Surprisingly, most of his costume was intact.

"Thanks Kairi." Selphie and Tidus were still laughing, both bent over and gasping for air. "Thanks for helping, guys," he shot at them, but they just laughed harder. He shook his head, then turned to Kairi. "When these two are done, could you tell them that I went to the spraying fountain to cool off?"

"Sure." And again, Wakka left.

Across from them, right in front of the platform, waltz music began playing. Selphie jerked her head up. "They're starting! C'mon Tidus!" She grabbed Tidus and pushed him onto the designated dance floor. Kairi watched with amusement. Tidus looked flustered.

But, as she continued to watch them spinning around, holding each other's hand, Tidus began to look at ease. He grinned as Selphie threw her head back, her laughter drifting to Kairi's ears. And they were happy. So happy...

Kairi couldn't take it anymore. Something was bubbling inside her, something she had suppressed for so long. She turned around and headed back to the clearing, first at a brisk walk, then gradually breaking into a run. But she passed the clearing and went straight into the path that Selphie and Tidus took earlier. Her legs moved faster, and her breathing became uneven. The lights became blinking blurs of color. She heard a couple approaching from the opposite direction. Her legs froze. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. Frantically, she broke through the plants to her left and continued her mad dash down to the beach.

She wished she didn't come. It hurt too much, it broke her heart! She was foolish to think that something would happen. Why did she have to get her hopes up? Numbers aren't lucky. They don't provide people with miracles.

Kairi stopped, her body crumpling against a tree. A tree a tree a tree. Why did everything have to remind her about them? Why was her mind so cruel to her? She buried her face into her hands and sobbed. She was doomed to stay like this. Forever, she was doomed to stay lost. Lost with just the memories of those dearest to her, living off the false hope that they'd return someday.

They could be dead.

No! Don't think that!

They could've died a long time ago.

All her doubts began rising like a sun at dawn. It could be true. It probably is. But why did she have the feeling that something good would happen? Because you wanted to believe they'd come back.

A small whimper escaped her lips. Recalling her memories...and focusing on them...They'd helped her to block out these thoughts that she'd hoped she'd never think about. They made it seem as if they were really there. But watching the others brought out her feelings of loneliness. It felt like a sign hit her on the face saying 'THEY"RE NOT HERE! GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD! YOU ARE ALONE!'

A chill swept over her. The same chill she felt when she thought she felt a tug. Now she realized that it probably wasn't a tug, just a twig snagging her sleeve. But still...The girl shivered. This was also the same feeling she had of her necklace earlier. She looked down. It was gone.

Kairi's eyes widened. Panic clutched at her. She'd lost her most precious possession. How would she find it? She'd run a long way, and it'd be difficult to find something so small in such a large area. It was gone! Maybe she should just try to look...Maybe she'd get lucky...But she just couldn't bring herself to get up. It was gone. She wouldn't find it. They were gone. Everything...her wonderful life...all gone.

"Kairi! I've been looking all over for you! You dropped this."

Slowly, Kairi's eyes rose to see the boy standing in front of her, gasping yet smiling broadly. She couldn't believe it. Right now, after three years, a boy with aquamarine eyes was standing, just a few feet away, a necklace held in his right hand.



Author's Note:
Hiiiii again! Oooh, I had hoped I could make this three chapters, but now it has been extended to four. I hope that wasn't too bad of a cliffie. But don't worry! I shall update within the next week or so.

I'd like to say a big thank you to those who have reviewed. Seriously guys, reviews show us writers that there are people out there who appreciate our work. So, thank you guys!

Aaaand...Merry Christmas! Just in case the update comes after that day...Hope to see you soon!