Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Duh.

(Selphie drags Kairi with her to meet the new guys)

"Hey, how are you guys doing?" Selphie gave her best 'friendly' smile complete with twinkling eyes and shy posture. She was going to start flirting anytime now. Kairi lagged a little behind not used to being this shy or this determined to not make a fool of herself. What a load that was about keeping friends from making fools of themselves. She almost never felt so weird around guys. She chalked it up to having known all the guys she knew for most of her life and only just now seeing these two.

"...Uh, we're doing pretty well I guess." a nervous voice announced. Kairi looked up to see the boy with spiky hair and huge grin facing them. Beside him the boy with long silvery hair had his arms crossed and a polite smile on his lips. She was a little put out. They weren't like this before she and Selphie announced their arrival. They seemed much more tense now. Kairi felt a little better now that she wasn't the only awkward one.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Selphie and this is Kairi. We go to the local highschool." And then she waited. The two boys looked from Kairi to Selphie expectantly making Kairi grin sheepishly. She was pretty quick to the punch. Selphie didn't seem to mind being the one to break the ice. They looked at each other faces breaking out into broad grins.

"I'm Sora." The spiky haired boy said, blue eyes glinting in the evening sun as they shifted to the boy next to him. "And I'm Riku. We might be going to the highschool tomorrow if things work out alright." Polite and to the point.

Then they looked at Kairi. Suddenly full of butterflies she cleared her throat and said the first thing that came to mind, "Uh, I'm Kairi." They laughed and Kairi blushed before looking up again. Selphie smiled at her as though proud of her for speaking. Sora and Riku smiled easily reaching out their hands to shake hers.

Kairi tucked a strand of stubborn red hair behind her ear and reached out a slightly sweaty hand to each of them. They thought that was funny too. Kairi had no idea she was such a riot. Selphie looked genuinely happy and Riku and Sora were at ease once again. Kairi looked at them all laughing in the sun and she felt affection for them working its way into her heart.

Kairi, feeling braver now that they were all comfortable took it upon herself to learn more about them as Selphie was too busy staring into Sora and Riku's eyes.

"Sora?" He looked at her easy grin still fixed on his face. "Yeah, what's up, Kairi?" She smiled, it felt good to hear her name from him. He seemed like such a nice person. Such a familiar person.

But how could she know them? They were new after all and Kairi didn't know anyone besides her island friends whom she had grown up with.

But that still didn't settle the odd feeling in her stomach. Looking at his spiky hair. Looking at Riku's irritated look. They were like something she knew she should know. A whole group of memories hovering just out of her reach. But if she looked at his face long enough...maybe...maybe she would remember. Remember that they had shared something. Something important. Her and Riku, and Sora. Even their names made her want to smile.

But how could she know them? They didn't seem to know her.

Obviously she was just feeling a little strange. She smiled at her weird feelings.

Sora wasn't familiar. He was a completely new person in her life. They were just a couple of boys that she couldn't possibly know.

"Kairi?" Oops, she was staring. "Heh heh, sorry, I was just thinking...are you and Riku related at all?" Sora's grin sagged but didn't disappear. He rubbed a hand through his wild hair and in a soft voice said, "No, we're not really related, but I like to think of him as my brother. We grew up together." Riku looked at them smiling slightly while Selphie talked his ear off.

Selphie was leaning up against a nearby pole twirling her already curled ends making her hair look just a bit like a giant mustache making its home on the top of her head. Kairi giggled and Sora gave her a surprisingly bright grin. Riku took his attention off of Selphie and focused it on her. She blushed under their scrutiny but continued to giggle.

They had missed her laugh so much...

Selphie huffed at their tender expressions. Kairi was always the lucky one.

"Kairi, we have to go. Mom said it was okay for you to sleep over, remember?

"Uh, right, well, it was nice meeting you both!" Kairi said happily. She was happy Selphie had made her come along. They were both so nice. Riku and Sora. Maybe they could be friends. No, they could be great friends. Selphie and Kairi walked away smiling.

Riku looked at Sora. "She doesn't remember does she?" Sora felt his eyes start to water. Riku bit his lip and crossed his arms.

"We'll have to make her remember then won't we?"Riku nodded and Sora grinned thinly.