It was too dark, and Kairi was frightened. The shadows were everywhere, clawing at her, seeming to wriggle across her skin like incorporeal snakes. Yellow eyes, heartless eyes, stared out at her from the dark, the only points of light in this black world, and Kairi recoiled from them.
"Sora!" Her voice was high and desperate, close to cracking. "Sora, where are you? Riku!"
Kairi started to run, her sneakers making no sound against the ground underneath them. She ran blindly, seeking only to escape the clutching, suffocating shadows, and she closed her clear blue eyes against the ever-present glittering yellow ones surrounding her. So she didn't see the young man in front of her until she barreled straight into him and was neatly caught before she could hit the ground. Immediately she began to struggle, striking out in an effort to escape, but strong hands pinned her arms.
"Kairi! Kairi, it's okay, it's just me." Sora! It was Sora, Sora was here! Kairi's eyes jerked open as she stared, before she threw her arms around her friend's neck and clung tight. He embraced her, murmured soothing words in her ear.
Finally she pushed herself away just enough to meet his eyes. "Sora, I'm frightened," she admitted, voice quavering.
Sora smiled and stroked her hair. "I know, Kairi. You don't belong here, so it's really scary for you, huh?"
She nodded. "Let's get out of here. Let's go home."
"What do you mean, Kairi?" Sora seemed genuinely confused, and Kairi's heart froze. "I am home…"
Kairi jerked awake with a start, blue eyes wide and hands clenched in the sheet. For a few seconds she just stared at the ceiling, getting her bearings, before she realized it had been a dream. A horrible, chillingly lifelike dream. The redhead pressed a hand over her thudding heart, willing it to slow down. It was all right, really. Sora would never do that. He would never go to the darkness and call it home; he loved the light too much for that.
The girl rolled onto her side, hugging her pillow as she glanced at the clock. Still only a quarter to four in the morning… With a sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to get back to sleep.
Later that morning, at a more decent hour, Kairi raced to the play island to find her two friends. Despite her attempts to reassure herself, she still couldn't shake the feeling of prophetic dread the dream had given her. She had to find Sora and Riku and make sure they were still here, that they were all right.
Relief flooded her when she found their boats already at the docks, though the boys themselves were nowhere in sight. Scrambling onto the weatherworn wood of the pier, Kairi immediately took off to find them.
Eventually she discovered them in the last place she would have expected to: tucked into one of the trees, out of the sun. Their position gave her a moment's pause, as Riku sat leaning against one of the walls, Sora in between his legs with his back resting against the older boy's chest and Riku's arms wrapped securely around him. It was very intimate, and Kairi actually blushed. She was even going to retreat, to let them have their privacy now that she had made sure they really were still here, but Sora caught her before she could disappear.
"Oh, hey, Kairi. Sorry we didn't wait for you earlier."
Kairi looked back around, expecting to see that Sora had scrambled away from Riku in embarrassment, but he was right where he had been, tucked into his silver-haired friend's arms like he belonged there, and he looked as comfortable as could be. The girl blinked. Sora had changed.
Then she realized the pair of them was looking at her expectantly, as she hadn't answered yet, and she blushed again. "O-oh… No, that's okay. I slept late this morning, so I don't mind." She smiled, then went to kneel beside them. "I had a dream last night."
"A dream?" Sora again. Riku was still quiet, seemingly to just hold his brunette friend and listen.
Kairi nodded. "I was in a dark place, and there were Heartless all around me. I couldn't see anything but their eyes, and there was no light anywhere." She rubbed her arms as though cold, though the day was already sweltering. "I started to run, and I was calling out for you. I ran for a long time, but finally I ran into you, Sora. I told you how scared I was, and you said it was because I didn't belong there." She hesitated a moment. "Then I… I told you we should go home, and you… you said… you already were." Biting her lip, she stared down at her lap and missed the significant look Riku and Sora shared.
Sora cleared his throat. "Well, it was just a dream, Kairi. We're still right here, and everything's okay, right?"
Their friend looked up and smiled, nodding firmly. "Right. Everything's back to normal now. But why are you guys hiding back here? Come on, it's a beautiful day, we should be out enjoying the sun!" As she stood and reached for their hands to drag them outside, she thought she heard Sora whisper something to Riku, something that sounded like, "Just pretend." It gave her a cold shiver, and she quickly insisted to herself she imagined it. The three of them went outside to play.
Later Riku and Sora stood on the beach, the wavelets lapping at their bare feet as they watched Kairi collect shells for yet another of her good luck charms. It was Riku who stepped closer to his friend and reached for his hand, which Sora offered easily. The younger boy's ocean eyes were fixed on the girl, his brow knit. His words were only audible to the taller teenager who stood so close to him.
"No… This isn't right."
Riku frowned and looked down at him. "Sora?"
"This isn't right," he repeated. "We can't leave her. She needs us. And she wouldn't understand our reasons." He winced a little as Riku's grip on his hand tightened almost to the point of pain.
"Stop it, Sora. You know it's for the best. We're not happy here. We don't belong here. Kairi will get over us leaving. She's a strong girl."
"But she wouldn't be happy if we left!" Sora insisted, then gasped as Riku jerked him around and gripped him by the shoulders, much more fiercely than he had the night before.
The older teenager's eyes were hard as glared into those of his young companion. "When are you going to stop thinking about everybody else and start thinking about yourself?" he hissed. Then his voice softened and grew almost sad, his grip loosening into a caress. "When are you going to start thinking about me?"
"Oh, Riku… I'm sorry…" Sora went on to say more, but Riku cut him off, releasing him sharply.
"Forget it. I should have realized she was most important to you, not me. Fine, you stay, but I'm still going." He pushed Sora aside and stalked off down the beach towards the dock.
"Riku, wait! That's not what I was going to say!" But Riku ignored him. Sora bit his lip hard, watching the tall figure climb into his boat and row away, and he didn't take his eyes off him until a soft, tiny hand – So different from Riku's, he thought without realizing it – touched his own.
"Sora…? What just happened?"
Sora forced a bright smile as he turned to Kairi. "Oh, nothing. You know how me and Riku are. We're always fighting over something!"
"Yeah, but I thought that had changed after your battle with Xemnas. You two were getting along so well. Like… in the tree earlier." Her cheeks went pink, and so did Sora's.
"Yeah, well…" He shrugged helplessly, then abruptly changed the subject. "Hey, come on! Let's see if we can get a game started with Tidus and the others!"
Kairi blinked. "Uh… sure, Sora. That sounds like fun." As her friend ran off to find the others, the redhead stayed where she was, watching him go and frowning. Sora had changed more than she'd realized.
