Disclaimer: My mind is much too simplistic to think up such a wonderful game such as Kingdom Hearts. Therefore, I do not own it. :(
A/N: I've got Chapter Three ready for all you lovely readers! And I'll have my review replies at the bottom once again. ;D Well, I now introduce to you... CHAPTER THREE!
xoxo Bianca.
Intertwined Destinies
Chapter Three.
Kairi set down her hairbrush and looked into her lengthy mirror. She wondered how she had changed in appearance during the past one year, ten months, two weeks, and six days—or at least that was the information Selphie provided Kairi with.
"Has it only been that long, Sora?"
The simple question was left unanswered, for Kairi was alone in her room and no one was there to give her a reply. For Kairi, one minute seemed to be an agonizingly long century. After her eyes wandered around her bedroom for a bit, they returned towards the mirror.
Kairi had grown. She was taller, probably a few inches more than she had been over a year ago. Her reddish-brown hair had lengthened. Before, her hair reached her chin but now it rested at her shoulder blades. Kairi's hairstyle had not changed—it was still in layers and her bangs were still swept to one side, causing some strands to fall across her nose and over a twinkling blue eye—though now, since it was longer, she put it in a ponytail more often. Her daily outfit had changed as well. She no longer wore two shirts layered on top of each other, a purple skirt, and the bands around her arms. She had liked the outfit; only she outgrew it and decided to purchase something else. Instead, her attire had changed to a white shirt with lace bordering the edges, which had a black silk ribbon that could be tied 'round her midsection, white capris, and the same shoes as before, only they were black and gray instead of shades of purple. As for accessories, she had a silver chain dangling around her waist with a small paopu fruit charm, on her right arm were plenty of glistening bracelets while she had only a simple black band (much like her large yellow one she had worn in the past) on her left wrist, and she had kept her black choker and the necklace with a thylassa shell around her neck.
Kairi kicked off her shoes and collapsed on to her bed. It was not nighttime yet, though she was feeling oddly tired all of a sudden. After laying there in silence for a few minutes, Kairi was surprised to find herself thinking about someone she was beginning to dislike: Toshi.
Where did he come from? How did he get here? Why does he resemble Sora so much? What causes his crude personality? It pained Kairi to hear such horrid and sarcastic things being said to her from the face and the voice of the one whom she cared so much about. But, oh, it was so nice to see that familiar face again, to hear a voice just like his... but none of the traits she liked so much in Sora were there.
Suddenly, Kairi's bedroom door burst open, and in came an uninvited Selphie. Kairi had sat up from being startled such a great deal. She tried her hardest to get her speedy heartbeats settled down.
"Selphie!" gasped Kairi as she took in a deep breath to calm herself. When she felt a little more comfortable, Kairi pointed out, "Normal people knock before going into someone else's bedroom. You should try it sometime. It's not that hard, really, and at times it could be fun—"
"Very funny." Selphie placed her hands on her hips. "I'm just really excited..."
"You mean like always?"
Selphie paid Kairi no heed. "... about that new boy. I never got his name, but it's all right because you're going to tell me all about him."
Kairi sighed. "Actually, I didn't get that much out of him. He was really secretive. He wouldn't even tell me where he was from. His name is Toshi, though."
"Toshi?" Selphie's eyes brightened. "You know, that name means 'Mirror Image.' Maybe that has something to do with him looking so much like Sora?"
Kairi looked up thoughtfully. "Probably so! But I'm never any good with knowing what names mean. How do you know, anyway?"
Selphie brought her hands over her mouth and giggled girlishly. "I read those books that give you ideas on what to name your baby, with meanings and everything." Then, she held her head up high. "I have volumes A-M, N-S..."
"Interesting," Kairi interjected, now wishing she had not asked that question for the reply she had received freaked her out quite a bit.
"Anyway," Selphie continued energetically, "Was he a real sweetie? You know, when you called him Sora and he didn't know what you were talking about, the way he tilted his head to the side in confusion was so adorable!"
Kairi blinked, obviously disturbed. "Sorry to break your heart, Selph, but he's far from a sweetie. He abuses sarcasm on a whole new different level and is absorbed with his looks. Toshi wasn't... isn't like Sora..." she lowered her head and stared at her fingers.
Selphie seemed to understand because she did not go on squealing but instead put a hand on Kairi's shoulder and said, "You'll be alright, Kairi. We can talk later, okay? See ya." With that, Selphie left Kairi's room and closed the door behind her.
Kairi lay down once more and buried half her face into her pillow. She was facing her window, and she stared out into the afternoon, at the sky: red, orange, yellow... a tangerine sun...
Kairi yawned. Red, orange, yellow...
A tangerine sun...
She fell asleep.
Sora, let's take the raft and go—just the two of us!
Huh?
Just kidding.
What's gotten into you? You're the one that's changed, Kairi.
Maybe... you know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?
Yeah, of course!
That's good. Sora, don't ever change.
Kairi jerked awake. Her heart was beating an irregular beat. She felt as if something was wrong. Casting her eyes towards her window, she saw that darkness had overtaken the sky already, but there were few stars in the sky. The moon was full, majestic, and creamy.
Getting up and slipping on her shoes, Kairi left her room and quietly stepped down the stairs. She reached the well-polished wood floors and walked across it carefully as to not make any squeaking sounds. It seemed to take forever—but at last, she came at the huge double doors of her house. Those towering, mahogany doors always reminded her that she was indeed the adopted daughter of a mayor. She took care to open only one of the doors in a slow and gentle manner. Once out, Kairi shut the door as cautiously as possible, and once she heard the click, she walked down her porch and down a trail.
The trail led down to the shores, and as she stepped down the sandy slope, she entered the shadowy wonderland of greenery and flowerage. Kairi reached the dock and eyed her boat. (note at end of chapter)
Kairi dropped the oars next to her boat, panting vaguely, and ran across the sand. She felt crazy—she didn't even know why she just spontaneously decided to row to the island. Her running slowed to a walk as she reached the end of a sloped trail. Kairi turned a corner, walking up a few wooden steps. Each step groaned slightly with age as she stepped on it. Passing a fairly sized waterfall, she was dampened slightly by the mist it produced as the water rushed downward, though she hardly noticed for a very peculiar feeling was set upon her. Strangely enough, Kairi felt as if someone was watching her... following her... but she shook her head and tried to be rid of the thought, for who would want to follow her?
Kairi found herself entering the caved Secret Place, where she, Sora, and Riku spent most of their childhood days playing games, telling stories, and drawing silly pictures on the walls with rocks or chalk. Shivering with that unusual feeling, Kairi retreated to the far end of the cave with the mixture of sand and dirt crunching beneath her shoes.
She stared at the wall.
Oh, no. Kairi's heart seemed to stop. This was not right. There was something missing! Where is it?
The Secret Place was not completely dark; some moonlight spilled into the cave and fed it some ethereal light. And Kairi could see the walls of the cave clearly, and they had looked just like they had always looked before, except for one thing...
"Where's the drawing?" Kairi gasped. The drawing, the picture of her and Sora giving each other a paopu fruit, had disappeared. It was just plain not there. There were no signs of it ever being there, either. The wall of stone was cold, dark gray, and blank.
"Kairi? What's wrong?"
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sora.
But as she turned her head... she knew it was Toshi. Had he been following her? Kairi didn't care, she was confused and bewildered and overwhelmed. Turning back to the empty wall, Kairi reached forward and touched the cold wall, running her hands along it frantically.
After a few moments, Kairi sank to her knees, hopeless and helpless. She hid her face in her hands and bent forward so her forehead leaned against the rock wall. It was gone... the scribbles that had kept her patient, the picture that kept her going... the drawing that showed the world how Kairi and Sora felt about each other...
Gone.
Kairi dropped her hands to her sides and lifted her head. Her eyes were rimmed with red.
"Kairi—"
But before Toshi could finish his sentence, Kairi took a deep breath and cried out at the top of her lungs in an anguished and upset voice that was sure to echo exceedingly.
"SORA!"
Tears gathered at her eyes and descended down her cheeks. They fell to the ground and disappeared. Kairi heard Toshi approach closer, behind her, but once again, she didn't care. Her tears were hot and ran down as if she had more than a never-ending supply of them.
Her tears felt like acid.
It started to rain. Hard and merciless.
Sora focused on the unconventional sky above him as he began to get drenched in rain. An unordinary feeling washed over him and he felt sick to his stomach. Then, the strangest thing happened.
"SORA!"
The voice did not belong to Donald or Goofy, but Sora recognized it immediately. His name seemed to be called out from up above, the sky, and it echoed down on him like a sharp bell. The voice held the emotions of a distraught, saddened person.
Sora's sapphire eyes averted from the sky to the charm on his Keyblade—the Oathkeeper, and back to the sky. His heart revved as his hair dripped wetly and it was truly hard to keep his balance as he whispered just one name.
"Kairi...?"
Kairi's sobs quieted as a whistling sound, more like the sound of howling wind, echoed throughout the Secret Place. It sounded nothing like anything Kairi had heard before. And then, in a short couple of seconds, the wind became forceful, the sand and dirt and stray leaves on the ground began to swirl around Kairi, as well as Toshi. The wind grew stronger and stronger with every moment. Kairi brought herself up to her feet and backed away from the wall, causing her body to collide with Toshi's.
"Hey! Watch it!" shouted Toshi over the loud pandemonium. They both toppled over to the ground and watched in petrified astonishment as the light in the cave intensified. Soon they were shielding their eyes with their hands and arms, trying to avoid being blinded by the luminous light or getting dirt in their eyes.
The ground underneath them trembled, and soon it was wobbling out of control. Suddenly, it seemed as though the ground disappeared or gave out, for they felt their hearts plummeting down to the tips of their toes in a ghastly sensation as it seemed as though they were falling down... down, down... to a place they knew not.
Kairi and Toshi's eyes were shut tight now, fully persuaded that the light was still getting brighter even though it seemed as though it couldn't anymore—though it was. It was now to the point where the light was beaming so strongly at them that even through their closed eyelids they could see that it was awfully emblazing.
"OOOF!"
Kairi and Toshi landed down on a hard surface, but with their cheeks against it they could tell whatever they landed on seemed glassy.
"Get. Your. Leg. Off. My. Butt."
"Gladly."
"Shut up." Kairi seethed.
"No, unless you remove your shoe from my face." Toshi shot back.
"Shut up." Kairi repeated.
"Oh, so now you only know how to say that? Whatever happened to your intelligent vocabulary, hmm?"
"You couldn't even spell 'intelligent' or even 'vocabulary' if the words were right in front of your face."
"Wait a minute." Toshi stood up. "Where are we?"
Kairi brought herself up as well, and they both looked around in wonder, forgetting all about their argument.
It appeared that they were standing on gleaming colored glass, like stained glass windows, only this was on the floor. The stained glass spread around for about two or three miles, and beyond that was nothing but somber darkness. Looking down and around for what seemed like forever, Kairi was appalled as she saw what the colored glass portrayed.
The missing picture from the Secret Place.
"We're definitely not in Destiny Islands anymore." Kairi whispered breathlessly.
And she was right.
REVIEW REPLIES!
BattleAngelKurumi: Good to know that you think that was a great chappie! I suppose you 'partly' or 'slightly' find out what is happening in the chapter I just added... but more information is yet to come..
Dragongirl920: Yeah 4 you for reviewing my fanfic! Thanks, and I will update as soon as possible. :)
Princess Kairi: Of course I replied to your e-mail, silly! xD I am never one to leave a reader's e-mail unreplied. I'm glad you thought Chapter Two was entertaining... Sora's just so cute like that... and, hopefully, you won't have to wait too long for Chapter Four to come your guys' way!
thes razr blade: I am glad you like! And I will update! x)
carbuncle x3: Oh, Toshi is good looking. Unfortunately, he is a crude boy. Anyway, it's awesome how you love this so much, and it doesn't really matter how long your reviews are... just that it gives me the point that you're trying to tell me! Such as loving it. (: And, once again, I will be updating so much more faster and so much more sooner because I am now on summer vacation! Wheee...
MagicV: Really good? Great work? Aww, you're so nice.
Actually, you all are so nice. I've come to love writing this fanfic, the feedback is great!
Note: I edited that part of the chapter because I found out that Kairi, Sora, Riku, and all the other kids didn't actually live on that particular island—where you see them all the time. But instead, they live on a seperate island where their houses are located; they row to that other island opposite them just to have their fun. Haha, silly me.