Disclaimer: Final Fantasy? Nope. Kingdom Hearts? Nuh-uh, not mine…
Actually, before we get to that, lemme give you a little insight on what's happening further along the story… so I created this trailer (you ff authors are so creative!)
So, for this trailer use these little hints to help you figure it out… "Character Speaking" And "these are the words that you read off the screen." This is just describing the picture and such.Trailer: Chapter Five and Onward
Pitch black. All you can see is glowing white words being typed across the screen and hear Sora mumbling something in the background.
"This story will continue…"As it finishes typing the last period Sora's voice becomes clear but still just as quiet and the camera switches to a scene with him sitting down at a desk. The camera is set outside a window and slowly moves in as he speaks. Papers scattered all over the desk, he holds a single sheet in one hand. A candle burns on the ledge as he recites its contents…
"'Remember back then, long back
Our futures blared so brightlyYet under the great blue sky
We were a little afraid'?"
It does a closeup of his eyes which are cascaded downward. A deep feminine voice calls out,
"Hello?"
Sora knocks over the chair as he stands up startled and turns around to face an empty open doorway. The candle goes out just as fast and the screen goes black again.
But without the innocence…The camera is set high up in a naked tree, only a few red and orange leaves still left. The sky is white and the camera swings down to show a girl sitting below. It switches to a view of her shoes and they squeak in the snow. Then it switches to viewing the whole picture, Kairi sitting on a white rock, in the white snow, with the white sky, the naked frame of the tree sits behind her. She rubs her arms in the cold weather and pulls up her jacket. It then goes to a close up on her face, which looks down. Her head quickly lifts up and jerks to the side at the call of her name. The screen freezes and fades black.
"In a country of lost souls, rebellion comes hard."
A silver haired boy grabs Sora by the shoulder. They stand in the middle of a downtown abandoned basketball court, with wired fence surrounding it. It closes up on their faces, the silver haired boy looks quite enthusiastic with hand gestures and his speech,
"But in a oppressive city like this,"
He leans in and pokes Sora in the chest with a single finger,
"It comes like fire."
Behind a greasy building, the back door bursts open and Sora followed by a blonde haired boy and Kairi run out and jump over the patio's back railing. When Kairi lands she stumbles and lands on her hands, the blonde boy turns back and picks her up by the wrist. Sora bouncing from foot to foot in one place, motions for them to hurry up and then looks up to the security guard who bursts open out of the back door with another man behind him. Sora grabs Kairi by the hand and the blonde boy stops and looks back; the screen catches his face and then dissolves into a twirl of blurs.
Are they getting further away from the darkness,
Lost in an alley, Sora pushes Kairi behind him and snaps at her,
"GO! What are you doing! Run!"
He looks forward and faces two dark figures and squints.
Or closer to it?
It switches to another scene with Kairi at a store counter, wearing an apron. She neatly folds the cash and closes the register. A few men catch her eye outside, two uniformed men. She turns around wide-eyed and holds her breath as they enter; she clasps her hands together as their friendly chat between them fades with the black.
They're wanted…
The silver haired boy rolls his eyes and puts his hands on his hips. Sora sits on the end of the bed with is head in his hands,
"What a drama queen, just ask her!"
How long until they are found?
"No, no, no!"
A half naked girl wearing nothing but undergarments stands with Kairi in a bedroom. She is on high red heels, Kairi rolling up the cuffs of her jeans looks up blankly at the brunette girl with bi-colored eyes, she fiddles with her freakishly high-heeled blues.
"You gotta roll your hips."
She glides across the room swaying her hips left to right. She turns her head and flashes a smile,
"Understand?"
A room filled with chaos. Teenagers jumping off the walls; all little punks. Music blaring loud. One gets pushed and Sora punches back, a fight breaks out. Sora is jabbed back in the jaw and he stumbles back, a red stream of blood flows from his lip.
"No matter what,"
Sora and Kairi make a pat, each clasping a single hand, they both smirk.
"We'll go together."
Various little scenes and such that will come up, I just cooked this up real quick to get you P-U-M-P'd, PUMPED, BABY! It's going to get really, really exciting! I mean, well, I'm excited! One thing you can count on is that the story, and it really does, gets better and better after each chapter. Seriously, count on it.
Chapter Four: I Am the Passenger.
(This chapter is dedicated to my father who recently had a heart attack. Everyone, please keep him in your prayers.)
The hard bump made his eyes awaken. He slowly came around and was wondering why he was on his back. First noticing the ceiling of the truck and then the whizzing sounds of the passing winds, the still chilling air, and the early sky, the sun descending into the sky in the distance. The next thing he noticed was the warmth left on his chest, and he glanced down. Her head lay resting ever so delicately, along with a gentle hand clasped against his breast. He slowly sat up and let her slip into his lap then onto his thigh, which was bad. With his arms propping him up behind him, he tried not to disturb her but this bridge of red across his nose -- why it was there he didn't know -- had to be stopped.
"Kai?" He gingerly shook her shoulder. She mumbled soft words and then went back to sleep. Carefully and with the highest caution, he lifted her and placed her on the floor beside him. He sighed and looked outside to see just exactly where they were.
His eyes widened. The hills and great peaks! What a sight! The horizon was as jagged as the twisted curls that lay in Sora's hair. The road also had changed from a dirt trail to jagged gravel and rocks; the driver had slowed down quite a bit from before. Along the edges of the roads there was a lot of vegetation and trees, which is another thing Sora wasn't used to. The wild weeds and limbs interfered with the road and it was obvious no one had cleared this path in a long time. All you could see was the mountains that were set beyond the trees into the distance. Standing at the edge of the truck, lost in total amazement of the mountains that seemed to reach an unattainable height, the truck ran over a rather larger rock and Sora lost his balance. Suddenly his face was facing the ground, and all of his body weight was depending on a couple fingers. Slowly he lifted himself back in the truck, fell backwards and scooted away from the edge. He heard a soft groan, and still scared out of his wits his head whipped around to Kairi, who began to stir awake. She grabbed the side of her head,
"Damn this truck.." She began and then looked towards Sora who looked like he had just seen a ghost and was breathing quite heavily. She questioned,
"What?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing."
"Oh," Kairi rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "Oh!" She said again but with more surprise, she took notice of her new environment and crept to the edge of the truck,
"Uh, be careful—"
"Wow Sora, look at this!"
"Yeah," He crawled to the edge beside her, but not too close to the edge.
"The mountains, they're so.. big!" She couldn't express how the mountains looked. The way they pilled on each other, some narrow and others with a wide base leading to a snow-blanketed top.
"I wonder where we are," She began.
"Or how long we've been traveling."
"There must be two drivers then, since it looks like we haven't stopped. Looks like they wanted to get out of Ptolemor as bad as us."
"Never as bad as us." Sora grinned. Kairi didn't need to look to know that goofy smile was plastered on his face,
"Hmm, we'll be heading into a town soon… Or somewhere for gas…"
"Down there!" There was a clearing in the trees and a valley appeared. But in the center was where Sora's finger pointed to, down to a small little white and gray town. Sora and Kairi looked at each other with wide eyes at their new discovery. The only problem was the town looked as though it was getting smaller and smaller, and the truck was moving up the mountain, departing the valley.
"We gotta go into town, who knows when they'll check the back."
"Who knows if we can survive a night in up in the mountains too…" Kairi's eyes were set upon a great mountain that laid in the distance. It's top covered in white and clouds warped and twisted among it.
It was decided, they would need to travel on foot until they reached the town, smuggling immigrants into another country or district meant jail or whatever they did to kids if they were caught. Kairi packed a few plump tomatoes in her bag and Sora leaned outside the truck looking for a good place to be dropped off. He saw a ditch coming up ahead, another gutter declining from the road. He came back inside the truck and hurried Kairi to the edge, and explained.
"Okay, get ready." She leapt out of the moving truck and seemed to land safely in the shrubbery of the ditch. Sora immediately followed and landed trench going head over heals and running into the cushioning bushes. When he stopped sliding, a sharp pain hit his left arm, he immediately grabbed it but his aggressive clutch just made another ache race through his body. He let out a small grunt and then steadily got up. He walked towards the road and saw the truck kicking up dust as it traveled off into the distance. Now that he could look around he flowed the gravel path that turned at the base of the mountain,
"Oops." He muttered and then inched himself to the other edge of the road. The land on this side of the road ceased only a few yards out from the gravel road and a cliff took its place. As the steep incline slowed down at the bottom you could see it led to the little town below. Now, how were they going to get down there? They would never be able to walk down that thing. His eyes wondered to a path leading from the town, he followed that until it led up to the same road that turned at the base of the mountains. Oh great, it looked like the truck was going to town after all. He then started to walk in the opposite direction in search of Kairi,
"Kairi? Hey, Kai!" She emerged from the trees and vegetation to the side,
"You all right?" Sora asked,
"Owe," Her upper torso seemed to be slowly circling, "My head again," She dizzily said from head-butting with an oak and then peeked out of one eye,
"Your arm!"
"It's fine."
"Agh! No, it's not, it's not fine Sora! You hurt it again!" She inspected it and then put tension in some spots, this reminded Sora of Yuffie.
"Does it hurt here?"
"No," He grimaced.
"Here?" She asked annoyed and raised an eyebrow, the 'I-saw-that' look.
"Eh, NO!" He about shouted and then pulled his arm away. Kairi still had an eyebrow raised but then her face went sour, and then to a frown.
"Why won't you let me help you?"
He didn't answer.
"If you never tell me anything, how am I supposed to help you?"
"What?" He said while still rubbing his arm,
"That's right, you never tell me anything; any problems, what goes on in your family!" Kairi and Sora stood in the middle of an empty road arguing, well Kairi doing most of the arguing and Sora with a confused twisted face,
"Oh, you knew what went on, and you knew I didn't want to talk about it!" He shot back.
"Yes, and that pisses me off!" Kairi folded her arms, "You always hide your emotions, so stop! I don't want to go anywhere with you if we can't help out each other. You make me feel like such a baby! I'm always running to you to complain and to share my stories but you have had nothing in return lately! It really depresses me, you know cause…" She stopped and Sora threw a palm up,
"What? Cause what?" She took a shaky breath and she felt her eyes heating up, but she sucked it up and ran back into the bushes remembering her vow,
"Kai, what?" He said more solemn, beaten more like it. He followed her into the bushes. She spotted the blue sac near the tree, where she had butted heads, and picked it up.
"Kai." She bent down to pick it up and turned around,
"it all got worse after the thing that happened, that happened to me."
She looked to the side avoiding his eyes, mimicking what Sora had always done. She sniffed and took a deep inhale through her nose; no one could really know how she was feeling inside.
"I'm sorry." He said, but she ignored the first apology,
"I just don't want to—"
"Worry me? I worry more when you don't tell me things, Sora!" She got close to his face and demandingly spoke,
"Now, let me be a friend and help you. Deal?"
"Deal." He said defeated but happy.
XXX
As the day progressed, Kairi and Sora walked along the road. The sun had descended past noon and it began to get warmer and warmer, which was a good thing cause it was pretty chilly earlier. They had breakfast and lunch, and had just finished dinner. Both of them were getting sick of tomatoes, since they were from Ptolemor were too rich and it overwhelmed their taste buds. You couldn't eat them alone.
"I don't think I can eat another tomato."
"Yeah, I feel sick…"
They had reached the base of the mountain and were now descending down a gentle slope towards the town. The sun slipped very quickly from the sky and began to touch the peaks of the mountains. They wondered how they would manage through the night.
"We'll freeze. We've moved to far up hill and in these mountains night will be way colder than in Ptolemor."
"We can't reach town by night either…" It's at this time Kairi wanted to smack Sora upside the head for misjudging the road's final destination. But the bouncing yellow orb that hung around her neck always brought a smile and pardon. The road would twist and widen and narrow down, depending on the thickness of the trees. It was a very tiresome and chilly walk, if only they had jackets, or at least pants for Sora's sake.
About a third of a ways down the base of the mountain they spotted smoke, and assumed that there was housing out here. Sora and Kairi picked up their pace once they saw this, hoping they could stop for warm water of coffee, really anything, since they needed to reach town by tonight. When they reached the smoke's origin's they came across a lavish two story Victorian home. It laid in the only clearing in these woods. The house had a few steps that led up to door with a pointed frame. Left to the porch was a two story tower, making the whole home seem like a miniature castle. To the right of the door there was a square first story that protruded out from underneath the second. And above the second story laid one window, the attic window; starring at it long enough made you feel something was going to pop out or shock you.
Kairi and Sora had never seen anything like it before. They looked at it in amazement and astonished at the detail in every nook and cranny the doors and lawn had with it's garden and flower pots; nick-knacks like that. They stood away though, not daring to take a step closer, the house had an eerie effect on them.
They both jerked away at the sound of a vicious bark and looked to the side to see an old vicious hound. They stumbled back and the dog deeply growled.
"Nice doggy," Sora cooed calmly, as a reply the dog viciously snapped back with loud, full barks. His beady black eyes fixed on them, and kept moving forward until all three of them had traveled across the road, Sora and Kairi had their backs against a thick line of trees.
"Who's a nice puppy?" Sora said more nervous, swallowing, Kairi regained her nerve in balance,
"Uh, Sora, I don't think it's going to roll over and let you tickle her." The dog barked again at her remark, and a frothy white line of saliva formed around the rim of her mouth and it's ears pulled back,
"It doesn't have rabies, does it?" Kairi asked and Sora licked his lips looking at her in fear,
"Run!" He darted in one direction but Kairi pulled him back by the tail of his shirt.
"Are you crazy?" A long chain of barks scolded them and then Kairi spoke again, straightening her back,
"Don't show it any fear," Sora looked at her, with his shaking knees and thought to himself, 'Are you insane?'.
"I'm not afraid of some dumb mutt." The dog snapped back again frustrated, and Kairi shrieked and backed up into a tree. It growled with its lips rolled under, showing off its teeth.
"Lola," An elderly woman called out. Her ears perked up and her expression dropped. She turned around and ran off with her tail wagging. Sora and Kairi's eyes followed it as it ran up to an elderly woman; she patted her head.
Beginning to shrink, this woman started taking on a slight hunch. She was draped in dark warm colors; navy and white dress, black stockings visible at the ankles, her tiny feet her fitted into tiny black shoes, and a black shoulder blanket loosely tied in front. The old woman looked up and squinted at Kairi and Sora. She didn't look very sure though, she had to stop and do this a few times. She stepped foreword and awkwardly kept her hands out for balance,
"Hello there," she called out and began to stagger foreword. Sora and Kairi looked at each other and then back at the woman.
"Uh, hi." Sora raised a hand and smiled, as they approached Sora and Kairi took notice of the old woman's face. It seemed gentle and fair, as though it gave off warmth and a feeling of ease, she smiled and caught her breath as she came to a stop. She had to look up at Sora when she spoke,
"Well, well," She smiled, baring her pearly whites which Sora and Kairi guessed to be fake, and looked back and forth between Kairi and Sora,
"I don't believe I've ever seen you two around." She continued grinning, "New in town?"
"Well ma'am," Kairi spoke and put on a smile, Sora stepped behind her as the dog sat near the old woman,
"We were actually wondering if we could maybe get something to drink or something. See, we are trying to reach town and got lost and we've been walking all day and-"
As the old woman listened she stretched out her neck, like a turtle poking his head out of it's shell, and tried to follow Kairi's story,
"Lost? Well, please, of course! Please, come inside." She turned towards the house and Kairi involuntarily supported an arm,
"Oh! Thank you very much, do you need some help?" The old woman looked up and smiled.
XXX
Sora sat quietly and drank his coffee, the old woman and Kairi sipped on tea and she laid out a spread of goodies to munch on. Sora scanned these with his eyes as the rap of Kairi and the woman sounded in the background. He looked around the kitchen and house, which was as old and just as rickety as the outside, delicate furnishings flourished with little decorations and nick-knacks here and there. It looked like that oldfashioned grandmother's house that you hated visiting because of all the restrictions that would be put on you, saying don't touch that and there's no playing in this room, you know, the one you would be stuck at for two weeks in the summer just to keep her company.
The table was old as well, and was carved out of wood, Sora fumbled with a frilly doily placed under the kettle stand and dish of candy. He tried one of these, but it was old, stale and hard as a rock. The absence of sweet and presence of vinegar filled his mouth and spread up to his nose. He cringed and tried to swallow but it was no use. He had pretended to cough and had spit it up in his hand. Now it laid re-wrapped in purple paper in his hands. Kairi politely giggled with the old woman and thanked her again for the drinks.
"Oh it's no trouble at all, but eh, where did you two say you were from?" Sora and Kairi glanced at each other, and Sora revealed,
"Ptolemor." The old woman lifted her chin in a did a surprisingly long "Ah" and then followed with, "I see."
"Nona?" A younger, more full voice called from the other room. The dog that had been sitting on the floor perked her ears up and wagged her tail as she pranced to the door. Sora heard the crinkling of brown paper and the squeal of the rusty hinges. He turned in his seat to see the front door, which was visible through the open kitchen. A strawberry blonde stumbled through the door with an arm's full of groceries. A cool breeze swept in, she waltzed into the kitchen and with relief laid down the paper bags on the table. She wiped away a wisp of hair from her face and turned around to inspect the children,
"And who might these be?" Sora had to check his jaw to see if it hadn't hit the ground yet. Gawking at her beauty, he thought she was stunning enough to be a model or something along the lines of fashion, though her outfit didn't really scream it. She removed her coat, placing it on the back of a chair, and revealed light faded jeans and a flowery white and blue blouse. Her uniform though simple and very plain, gave a down to earth sense, well that and as a plus hung on a tall and curvy figure.
"Oh Quistis, back already?" The old woman excitedly said looking over a frail shoulder. The womanly figure bursting with youth leaned on the back of her chair and gave her a quiet and gentle smile. Sora peered in closer at her facial features that were just as striking as her figure of course; her light blue eyes were warm on the old woman, her dark blonde eyebrows in a perfect arch and her pale and fair complexion; Sora tried not to squirm in his seat.
"Well these two are Kairi," the old woman spoke with a smile and motioned a hand towards Sora, "and" Sora quite his gawking and turned his attention to the old woman, who seemed to have forgotten his name, "Sora." He filled in the end for her.
"Ah, Sora, that's right," The elder giggled and gently laid a hand on a temple, "This mind isn't what it used to be, you know?" A high-pitched laugh followed and Kairi giggled along with her.
"Oh," The full woman remarked, Sora in the mean time took note of her warm colored pink lips. But when he moved up to her eyes, she had an expression of dissatisfaction. She stood up straight and her long bangs gently flowed in front her, reaching the bottom of her breast, the rest of it pulled up in a hair clip. The blonde gave off a calm aura and her mouth and eyes generated a serious but tranquil expression. Whenever the old woman laid her eyes on her though, her shield melted and she returned a look of comfort… and kindness.
"Oh," she paced to the door recognizing that it was still ajar, "help with the groceries," she beckoned, "c'mon."
Sora rose from his seat and followed her outside to help carry in the groceries. Sora didn't recognize this kind of car from where he was from, it looked a lot more modern; Ptolemor was old and outdated compared to the rest of the world it seemed. Silently, Quistis gathered stray packages that must have fallen out of the bags, and stuffed them in. Sora reached in the back of the car for another round of groceries and glanced towards her. Feeling his eyes on him, she spoke,
"So, who are you, are you related to Nona?" she kept piling in the packages of food and canned goods. Sora blushed and managed to spill,
"Uh, no… We just go lost and--" She picked up to bag and started walking to the house; Sora did the same and followed her from the car.
"Why, d-do you get visitors passing through here often?" He questioned her casualty and walked beside her, but had to look up since she was about a half-a-head taller.
"No," she replied with a look of bothered comfort, "not really." They walked into the kitchen and laid the groceries down, Kairi and the old woman nicknamed 'Nona' were still chatting and giggling like schoolgirls. Quistis glanced at them and then glided out towards the car again, Sora followed. She grabbed the last two bags out of the back and stuffed them into Sora's arms. He silently cringed at the pain that echoed through his elbow.
"Hold these?" More of a command than a question, she slammed the backdoor to the station wagon shut and went back into the house without a second look towards Sora.
XXX
"Well we really need to be going," Kairi said and Sora stood next to her and scooted in his chair, "we need to get into town before it gets dark."
"What are you going to do there?" Her story of them staying with a relative, you know just went out for a hike today and got lost, backfired on her when her mind couldn't come up with a reasonable answer. Now, what was it she said before?
"Gotta get back to our uncle!" Sora filled in again.
"Yeah that's right, before it gets dark!" They both smiled nervously. Quistis ignored the conversation and continued putting away groceries, going to the old legged fridge and opening and closing cabinets. Nona looked disappointed but then a crept up on her wrinkly face,
"Who did you say your uncle was again?" Sora and Kairi glanced at each other. Sora nodded to her and Kairi shook her head, trying to be discreet, looking like she was scratching the back of her neck. Sora turned towards the old woman and stuttered for a moment,
"Uh, uh," his hand clenched on the back of the chair, it gathered moisture even though the house was very cool. He waved a hand,
"Hedberg," He rested the once motioning hand on a hip, "Hedberg, Mitch Hedberg." Kairi slapped a hand to her forehead without realizing it. The old woman's brows furrowed,
"Hmm, I don't believe I know him. And this is such a small little place…" She looked towards Quistis who stood directly across from Sora on the other side of the table. Quistis eyed him weirdly,
"Where are you really from?" With her hands folded casually, Sora and Kairi squirmed,
"We really are from Ptolemor," Kairi stated, looking at the old woman with sympathy, "Sorry to lie to you, but we really just need to check in somewhere to stay tonight. That's why we need to get into town." Quistis and Nona looked at each other. Then after a moment the old woman looked back to them,
"Well there won't be any nice hotels in town, if that's what you mean." She smiled, "You can stay here, if you like." Sora and Kairi, once again, exchanged glances to express opinions and then they both nodded,
"Thank you," Kairi said. But then Quistis interrupted,
"But," She unfolded her arms and set them on her hips, "In return, we could use a little help fixing the house. Would you mind helping if we let you stay here?"
"No problem," Sora agreed, thinking labor here should be way easier then back home. Quistis returned a snug smile.
XXX
Sora knocked on the door,
"Quistis?" A chair squeaked across the floor and the door opened slightly, her head poked out,
"Yes?" Thin framed lasses balanced on the tip of her delicate nose, the first time Sora had seen her with them, she sounded annoyed but was polite at the same time with a weak smile; it faded quickly.
"Oh, well, lunch is ready if you want to join us." Sora took a step back, and Quistis cold expression softened. She thought for a moment and then with gentle eyes and smile,
"Alright, thank you. I'll be down in a minute. Mm hmm?" She thanked Sora and then the door closed. A shiver went up his spine but he shook his head and hopped down the stairs.
When he entered the kitchen Kairi scolded him,
"Can you be any more noisy?" She placed a bowl of boiling hot soup on a frilly placemat, then returned to the stove to serve more,
"Nona took her nap early today, she said she isn't feeling very good."
"Oh, sorry," He took a seat and sat in silence. All that was heard was the stirring and scrapping of the ladle in the pot. That was how it was lately, no talking. Ever since they decided to stay here for a while Kairi and Sora wouldn't really talk. Was mostly Sora who was quiet though, Kairi would try and use her sarcasm to break the ice but Sora would meekly reply back and always seemed to have a cloudy mind. Always in deep thought. He would blank out, hesitate to answer, possibly be thinking of home, Kairi thought. Sometimes she would even feel really guilty, like she had caused all of this. Whenever her eyes began to heat up, when ever her chest tightened and her stomach twisted in a knot she would remind herself that this was best for both of them; squeeze that yellow orb and hold back the tears. She was going to keep her promise this time.
Kairi taped the ladle on the side of the bowl, trying to get the sticky and stringy white cheese to fall in. She finally did so, and quickly placed the last bowl down at the table, almost dropping it. She sucked on a few fingers from the burn and Sora looked up with a spoon in his mouth and held back his laughter, Kairi noticed this and smiled with a giggle,
"Shut up," she giggled, gagged by her fingers.
"What is this anyway?" Sora slurped up a string of cheese that hung from his mouth. Kairi ran the faucet and placed her inside fingers underneath the cool running water,
"Umm," She thought, "I don't know," she placed her wait on one leg and leaned on the counter, wiggling her fingers under the water, "it's some cheesy sweet soup."
"'Lotta cheese," Sora slurped up another spoonful.
"Nona taught me how to make it." She wiped her hands on a dishtowel and sat down at the table and started to dig in.
"What are these?" Sora lifted his spoon to show a soggy brown sponge,
"Oh, croutons," She took a mouthful, "You're supposed to use toast," She wiped away a dribble of soup, "But, we didn't have any bread. Well that, and that toaster thing is broken."
"The what?"
"You know, that rusty silver thing that she puts cut bread in and it cooks it, making it all toasty. Mrs. Jimmes used to have one, Aerith's neighbor, remember?" More silence followed, and Kairi was getting tired of this. She fiddled and made waves in her soup with a spoon. She was thinking of asking him what was wrong but instead remembered the promise that he would tell her when something was up. She trusted him, but then again if she did, why would she keep questioning and thinking about it? Then he spoke,
"When are we going to leave?" Sora asked, he stared down Kairi.
"Leave?" She was caught off-guard with this question and her gloomy expression became one of surprise, so did Sora's.
"Yeah, we aren't staying here,"
"I know, but… why rush?"
"We are only in Laopaes. If we stay here, we are bound to be found soon."
"You think so?" Kairi seriously questioned.
"Hello," Quistis entered the kitchen and noticed an extra bowl and sat beside Sora. Kairi and Sora sat back down in their seats and eyed each other, each giving off an opinion of Quistis's presence; ultimately their conversation ceased.
"Wow," she politely smiled, speaking that soft yet powerful voice, "you made Her famous soup." Kairi smiled from the first complement she had heard from Quistis since they had moved in at the beginning of the week.
"Thanks Kairi, Sora." It sounded weird, her saying their names for the first time, like she was having to sound them out.
"Oh, she made it." Sora said. Quistis ignored this and delicately sipped her soup. She seemed to have a gift of only hearing what she wanted to hear. Sora and Kairi glanced at each other again during the silence. They didn't know much about her, only that was twenty-two and a college student. She spent most of her time locked up in her room studying and only came down for dinner, usually just to take it back up to her room. No wonder the old woman starved for company and a good conversation. She didn't have her glasses on right now and when she felt Kairi and Sora's eyes on her she looked up and dabbed a napkin over her mouth. Her expression was still calm but it seemed to grow more gentle, like the old woman, the more she enjoyed her soup.
"I need to go into town for some errands," Kairi and Sora looked up and Quistis laid her napkin down on the table, "It's going to get very cold in the next couple of weeks, you two should come too and buy some clothes." It was true, Kairi had borrowed some old clothes Nona had kept from a while ago, Sora had barrowed a rag as a t-shirt and alternated every other day, wearing the same shorts.
"That would be great!" Kairi exploded though she had the feeling that Nona had told her to do so, but maybe- maybe not. Quistis rose from her seat to put away the dishes,
"Oh don't worry about those, I'll get them." Kairi stood up and picked up their bowls except for Sora's who had already put his in the sink. Sora noticed Quistis smiling.
XXX
When they reached the small town, Sora felt like home. The citizens seemed very close and everyone knew each other's names. People, mostly old with only a few kids roaming around, would greet each other walking down the streets. The only thing that felt different to Sora and Kairi was all the paved roads and stone buildings, it seemed very strange and kind of compact. It was just a thick forest and then bam! You were in a little stone city. Quistis parked the car on the side along the shops. They chatted a bit in the car but not so much. Quistis had warmed up a little and actually made an effort to start conversation this time around.
She handed Sora a handful of strange bills; he looked up confused,
"Sorry," she shuffled through the notes and picked up a small pink one, "currency in Ptolemor…" Quistis let her mind drift back to her studies, Sora watched as she shuffled through the odd shaped and colorful notes,
"Let's see, this equals a dollar thirty, a little over six instead of five, and this ten equals about fourteen." She shuffled the noted back together and handed them to Sora.
"I wouldn't really worry about being ripped off." She smiled sweetly, and acted apologetic. She didn't bother giving any to Kairi since they were going to be clothes shopping together.
"Remember, back here in two hours." And they set off in different directions.
XXX
They had to stop at a library of some sort. Quistis greeted the librarian with a casual smile and drifted to the back, passing the rows and shelves of books. Here laid a single computer on a desk, Quistis sat down at the desk and pointed to another stray chair Kairi could pull over. As she scooted up she eyed the alien machine,
"I've never seen a public computer before." She confessed, feeling a bit dumb. Quistis smiled again, it was an often thing she did now,
"It won't take long, I just want to see my grades." She began typing and Kairi watched her fingers dance across the keyboard, it only took a couple of minutes on the slow drifting computer until her grades popped up on the screen. She received a ninety-four on a chemical evaluation class and an eighty on a strange statistics one. Kairi was impressed she was taking both of these classes and others at the same time. Quistis seemed satisfied with the ninety-four but loathed the grade for the mathematics class. In her mind she started beating herself for not studying enough, she should've been more prepared.
"What's your major?" Kairi meekly asked. Gripping the sides on her chair as Quistis logged off.
"Well my majors were chemical and civil engineering." She sat up from the desk and scooted in her chair. The computer screen returned to its normal log in state,
"Were?" Kairi asked baffled, she was only twenty-two and she flew through two bachelor's degrees already,
"And now I am getting a master's in environmental chemistry."
"Sounds pretty hard."
"It is," She sighed and then looked back towards Kairi. They seemed to get off at a good start,
"C'mon." She insisted, grabbing her coat, "I've been dying to get a break from school; Nona gave me some money to dress you up." She coolly said, all Kairi could do was admire her and follow.
XXX
They entered a little boutique and Kairi looked at all the new clothing styles. Some she recognized from Ptolemor, since they sometimes imported popular styles, though she couldn't afford them. She tugged on a knee length olive skirt, which was on sale from the summer. Quistis pulled the hanger off the rack and examined it,
"This is cute but," She laid it back down, "It's winter, and at the end of this week it's going to be in the thirties, at the highest." Kairi thought no way at first, it was only in the mid seventies, but she didn't really know how the seasons changed here.
"Oh!" Kairi remarked as she remembered something,
"Hmm?"
Kairi snapped her head around towards Quistis, "I just remembered, it's my birthday next week."
"Really?" Quistis put down a pair of dark flares she was looking at,
"Well," She took Kairi by the hand and led her to the front of the store, "We better get out of the sales racks, huh?" She smiled again and so did Kairi.
XXX
She scribbled and scribbled until her arm went out and the door opened, "Quistis?" She walked in with a tray, Quistis turned in her seat.
"It's too late for coffee but I have tea." She smiled as she took a cup from one of her hands. Quistis smiled and sipped,
"Good," she laid down the mug on the desk. She then stuffed some loose papers in a text book and closed it, "I needed a little break," Kairi sat on the bed and sipped on her tea, some peppermint flavor, she didn't know,
"What are you working on?"
"Advanced statistics… You know," She looked down at her cup as she raised it to her mouth, "Normal kids would drink hot chocolate."
"But anyways, did you get anything good for your birthday?" A shiver went up Kairi's spine and Quistis pulled up a blanket around her,
"Yeah, dinner was really good, if I could cook like her…"
"Mm hmm," Quistis nodded her head. Kairi and Quistis talked a lot; mostly Quistis filling her in on what was going on in the world, talking about celebrities and the latest fashion fads that bugged her to crap. The newest being the exposed stomach and Ugg boots people wore in the city,
"It's okay if you're in the mountains like this," she would say, "But really in the summer, in the city? Mini skirts and midriffs and then these Eskimo boots making your feet sweat? I don't understand children these days…" She would ask Kairi what she thought; sitting with a textbook at the kitchen table while Kairi washed dishes and counters. If Sora were near by, he would usually be fixing a cabinet or leg of a ratty old piece of furniture, usually guessing at what he was doing. Kairi wouldn't have an answer, not experiencing those kind of things and Sora in the mean time would try to uncode Quistis's gossip. "Ooga what?" he would say, and Quistis would laugh.
"Kairi," Sora spoke through the open door as he came down the hall, "Are you coming down?"
"In a bit," She called out and then Quistis got up from her seat and closed the door, teasing with a, "Buh-bye,"
"Wait—" The door slammed and the Kairi laughed. He called out from behind the door, "And just what am I supposed to do while you have your girl talk?"
They laughed some more,
"Play with Lola," and then Kairi into hysterical laughter.
In the hallway, Sora was crushed. He sat down on the steps near Lola and nervously extended a hand. She snapped with bark and bite and Sora returned to his position with his head resting in his hands,
"Bitch."
Quistis sat down back in the chair and crossed her legs, she shifted turned towards Kairi,
"What about him?" She sipped on her tea. Kairi hesitated,
"Oh, Sora?"
"Yeah, he must have gotten you something nice." Her eyes half closed, and she leaned on the back of her chair. With an elbow propped up she leaned, worn out. Kairi fumbled through the top of her sweatshirt and pulled out a chain, the yellow sphere shimmered in the room's light. Kairi's eyes set peacefully on it while Quistis's widened,
"Wow," She leaned foreword and reached out towards it, Kairi unfastened it and gave it to her, "it's beautiful." With her fingers she scanned the smooth surface, which was too full of yellow to uncover her reflection,
"Like a pearl," she dangled it n front of her, "When did he get this?" Kairi took it back and refastened it, looking at it some more once it hung around her neck,
"Before we left."
"Left?"
"Why are you staying here?" Kairi quickly dodged, Quistis surprised with the sudden interest turned back to her tea, and sipped,
"That's an out of the blue question." She softly hummed, thinking to herself, "College, mostly."
"Why don't you just move into the city your college is in?" Quistis sipped on her peppermint tea some more,
"It's hard to find a place to stay and a job that pays good money… So I work here and only spend forty minutes on the train three times a week. It's alright, I mean, free meals and I get to take care of Nona with good pay." She laid back, "but that doesn't really matter, I like staying here, it's… peaceful." She set down her cup and smiled.
"How long have you stayed here?" Kairi was now positioned horizontally on the bed, an elbow propping her up.
"About two years, but I've known Nona much longer."
"Do you get a lot of visitors like us?" Quistis didn't know why she was asked this question so many times,
"A few," she hesitated, "I was one." She cupped her mug, which gave off warmth, and her eyes sunk deeper into her past, Kairi could tell. Her voice grew softer in contrast to her determined expression.
"There was one that came though, I cannot forget him…" She drifted off, Kairi ran her finger along the rim of her empty mug.
"Don't get mixed up with things like that, Kairi," she continued, "When you're long gone, remember not to get into trouble like I did. Luckily, my grades were good enough to get into a decent college and from then on I concentrated on my studies," Kairi lifted up her head and saw Quistis looking out the dark window. A shedding tree stood, and the wind rocked it slowly. Kairi sat up and took her mug but Quistis kept talking,
"Everyone has their back up plans; in their minds, they always are always formulating a plan to escape the situation they are in. And I mean everyone."
"I'll let you go back to your studies," Kairi said uncomfortably and began to walk to the door until she stopped her,
"Oh, and to sum up the life lecture, no drugs, no alcohol, and no sex; they will mess you up!" Quistis joked and laughed as an apology for the tense atmosphere. Then, she let her go.
XXX
"Hey." Sora, wrapped up in blankets, said. He sat in front of the fireplace and a shiver went up his spine, he shivered spontaneously,
"Man, it's cold tonight." He blinked. Kairi sat near with a cup of hot chocolate this time and gave one to Sora; he took a sip,
"Something wrong? You look all gloomy,"
"It's nothing." She pulled up a blanket,
"We gotta go."
"Now?"
"Yes, now. We can't stay here any longer, I don't like mooching off of these people." She said frustrated,
"We're working," Sora tried to convince her, well that and himself. After a couple seconds he gave in,
"Okay you're right." He looked over to her. The shadows of the fire danced across her face, her eyes were glazed over and her lips curled in.
"Thinking of home?" She didn't answer. Sora looked over to the flames, colors of orange and yellow. They licked up and ate up all the flowing air. He was on his stomach with his chin on his crossing arms, he looked up to her again,
"You wanna cry?" He asked sympathetically. She looked disgusted by this question,
"What? No," She wiped her eyes and got rid of her gloomy expression,
"Quistis said we can borrow some money and take the train," Sora sat up and listened as her face brightened,
"We're going to go to Almm Eisla."
Chapter Four: I am the Passenger… End
XXX
Blah, blah, blah! More angst and adventure awaits. The next chapter enters Roxas (yes, BHK; his name has been confirmed.) who is an outcast and victim of the society's dysfunctional and insane. The next chapter will be Sora and Kairi actually interacting with a kid their age (DAMN, that will be so much easier, and more interesting too….) And yeah, this chapter was kind of focused on Kairi, but she needed some advice to use her head, cause her redheadedness is going to come in handy… how? I dunno!
Thanks for everyone that is reviewing, I love ya's!