2. Love

Sora and his family had just finished their dinner and he found himself caught in his recent pastime of figuring out the change in his heart in regards to Kairi. To free up his mind, he chose to keep his hands busy.

With that in mind, Sora sat at his dining table facing away from his mom as she washed some of the dirty dishes. He was rather preoccupied with a couple of seashells he had collected with Kairi earlier today. There were just times when she was real into arts and crafts. It was a nice change of pace.

He rolled one of the pieces Kairi had allowed him to keep. The more he rolled it, the more he seemed entranced and lost in his own mind. It wasn't long before he began to tap his forehead in confusion. After a moment, his eyes widened and he snapped his finger.

"I got it!" he said as slammed the table and his eyes zeroed in on his mom.

"Got what?" his mom was mildly curious. Her son had a rather amusing habit in finding himself in all sorts of situations. Then there was the rather introspective mood he seemed to be in as of late.

He smiled in pride, "Mom, you know plenty of things. I can't believe I didn't think about this sooner!"

She laughed in appreciation to the sincere praise, "Well your mom has been around the block a few times. If you think I can help, who am I to refuse?"

"Thanks mom. I'm sure you'll be a big help. Unlike me, you're pretty darn smart," he admitted with ease.

She paused her washing to shoot him a scolding look, "Don't say things like that. You aren't dumb by any means. It's just your mind focuses on different things and don't let yourself or anyone tell you different. Understand?"

"Got it," he said with a thumbs up. Stepping away from the table, he joined his mom and began drying and putting away the washed dishes. "Now I got this situation going on with Kairi. She's been a good friend of mine since forever. But, things are getting weird, at least for me. Now at first I thought she was taking Riku's spot as my best friend but that's definitely not it. It's like if awesomeness was a road, then Kairi has hopped off the road and gone across the street. She's still awesome but pretty different, a kind of different I really really like. It always gets really nice and tingly around her now. Am I making sense?"

He noticed that his mom had a weird smile like she was in on some big joke and she didn't want to give it away. It was kind of freaky to see that look on his mom of all people.

"That's a very apt description, Sora. So how long has this been happening?"

Sora placed a bowl in the cabinet before tapping his chin, "A couple years, I guess."

His mom's smile grew even wider, "Well, I think you're just growing up. It sounds to me that you're interested in Kairi as a potential special someone. In other words, Kairi has your romantic interest. You are just so adorable."

Hearing this explanation, he rolled the idea in his mind a bit, "I think you're right, Mom! Boy am I glad I got these feelings figured out. I thought I was going to have to ask Riku or even Kairi herself if she doing this on purpose. Do you know how crazy I was getting? I mean the warm and fuzzy feeling is nice and everything, but the mystery of it all was so annoying. You know what I mean?"

She laughed in agreement, "Yeah, the whole process can get pretty annoying. Puberty can suck. I know I hated it when I was your age."

Sora shook his head and waved her off, "Come on, Mom. How complicated can this be? You just told me everything I needed to know. See? Easy."

His mom finished washing the last dish and wiped her hands on her apron before pinching his cheek, "Something tells me you're going to find out how perplexing it can be."

"Geez, you're just messing with me," he said as he stepped away from her and rubbed his aching cheek. Now that he could put a name to the feeling it all made so much sense. Apparently, he had a crush on his friend Kairi. The excitement and cheer in his heart proved that he was right.

Smacking his fist against his palm, he wore a broad smile, "Thanks for all the help, Mom. I know what I have to do." In the next second, he blitzed right out the house.

His mom shook her head from side to side, "Three… two… one."

Sora returned to the house with a nervous expression, "I guess it's pretty late and it would be weird going to her house in pajamas. There's always tomorrow."

She patted him on the back in encouragement, "I think that would be for the best."

Mother and son shared a hardy laugh.