What would a world devoid of hope look like? Perhaps much like the town in front of her.
Streets and former homes lay abandoned, covered in ash, silent and stagnant. It was as if time was slumbering, waiting for the chance to tick on. For if nothing was living, were the days even passing by? Or had it all just stopped altogether? She couldn't keep track any more.
Staring at the deserted ruins of the neighborhood, Kairi wasn't sure about anything. There were no more echoing screams, but that could either mean everyone was hiding, or...that there was no one left to cry out.
The two of them searched for any small signs of life. Sometimes they would run into stray animals. Neither of them hesitated to try and befriend the creatures, offering scraps and small snacks, but eventually the animals would scurry off into the night, leaving them alone again. Otherwise, far too often they would meet more people who had gotten sick with the darkness and had to fight their way out of their grasp. Sora, armed only with a wooden stick and Kairi with nothing more than a tiny little sewing kit with some thankfully sharp needles was all they had to defend themselves with.
It felt like they were being almost endlessly pursued by three men in particular. The knight with the pointed beard, the portly knight with the wheezing cough, and a third comrade, long and lanky. A dark trio. Or, the 'Sticky Gang' as Sora liked to mockingly call them because of their constantly dripping dark residue. No matter how far they fled, those three seemed to inevitably catch up to taunt her. Every now and again they would also briefly catch a glimpse of a witch in dark purple robes and pointed horn hat that she vaguely remembered being the one who had tried to drown them with that magical tidal wave.
Hiding from her was the scariest. After every escape Kairi would lay awake at night, trembling at mysterious sounds in the darkness, struggling to hold back her tears. Sora always held her hand tightly through it all, and lent her Figment when it got too scary.
As they wandered the land he would tell her some silly stories, or teach her games like how to skip stones across the pond, or make a whistle out of shoots of grass. In exchange, she taught him some of the constellations they could see shining down on them in the clear night sky, and the names of the plants and flowers they passed on the trails through the woods.
He had a very free life that she was almost jealous of. Part of her was so glad to at least experience a small part of it. More than ever she hoped Sora could stay with her as long as possible. Somehow when he was next to her, staring out into the abyss of those ruins, she couldn't feel completely hopeless.
Before she could say a word, he reached over and gave her hand a tiny little squeeze.
"Don't worry, we'll find someone! There's gotta be someone else here, there's just gotta!"
Yet again in the face of the darkness and nothingness, he smiled so brightly it was impossible not to return it.
Giggling, she bopped him on the head and got a good head start down the street before he finally realized she was trying to race him. Shouting in alarm at being deceived, he chased after her, feet pounding across the crunchy gravel road.
"No fair!"
When he finally caught up, he gave her his own tag on the side of the arm and cheered. "Got ya, you cheater!"
Rather than pouting at losing their little foot race, she found herself happier than ever. The fact that he was always right behind her felt comforting, and she gave him a huge smile just to prove it.
The two children, somehow keeping each other company through the darkness, raced off again. Both hoping beyond hope that they would find someone else drifting through that timeless place.
Sora's teeth sank sharply into the corrupted man's arm. Immediately shrieking in pain, he struggled to shake the boy off of him but Sora only bit down harder in response.
"Brat!" The man grunted and finally managed to rip him away. "This is why I hate kids. Never listen to what's best for them. Always sticking their noses in where they don't belong."
Sora's legs windmilled uselessly in the air as he continued to resist, the back of his tunic still clenched tightly in the man's fist. The already raggedy shirt made some threatening ripping sounds, as if it was ready to split apart completely from the strain. The man refused to let go, and wrinkled his nose to sneer down at Sora's efforts.
"Maybe you should mind your own business and not pick fights you can't handle, boy."
Kicking out, Sora completely ignored the tearing sounds coming from his shirt. "Says you! You're the one going around picking on us first!"
Rather than answer him, the man hurled Sora back down to the floor and stamped down on his back before he could scramble up to his feet. The man seemed to find his coughing amusing in a sickening way.
"I was only here for the girl, not you." He glanced smugly over at the cowering little girl in the pale yellow dress still sobbing in the corner and an equally trembling Kairi standing protectively over her.
Sora wheezed for air despite being stuck under the man's boot, his hands pawing and tugging at the laces. "That only...makes you...more of a bully! You bully!"
"And you're just some wimpy brat who fights like a rabid squirrel. This is no place for you."
It was true that perhaps there was no reason for either Sora or Kairi to be there. They didn't even know the name of that young girl in the yellow dress. But there was no way either of them could have heard her cries and not intervened. No good person could have walked away from such a thing. It was also incomprehensible that someone could be monstrous enough to pick on a young child sobbing for her parents in the ruins of her family home and stand there laughing and bragging about it. The dripping dark liquid falling from the man's body made it clear he had already been infected, and likely the only reason why he would consider something so awful.
He leered towards the girls again. "Why hasn't the darkness taken you yet, I wonder? Maybe I should do the honors."
Refusing to watch Sora face any more abuse from such a monster, Kairi charged at the leg trapping her friend to the floor, pricking it sharply with her sewing needle. The sudden shock of pain caused the man to stumble away, finally freeing Sora who took advantage of his freedom to hurl a half broken plate from the ground straight at the man's face.
Without waiting to see the aftermath, Sora rushed over towards the door of the house and yanked it open, gesturing towards the young girl in the corner.
"Hurry!"
Kairi agreed with him, but saw that the girl in the yellow dress was barely budging, her eyes glazed over in fear, only shaking her head back and forth and whispering her refusals in constant repetition. She rushed over and wrapped up the girl's hand gently in her own, tugging her to her feet.
"Don't be scared. We'll be right here with you."
The man grunted as he rose from the floor, holding a hand up to his forehead. His fingers stained red as they tried to stem the blood now streaming from the fresh cut. He took one staggering step towards the girls and promptly collapsed down to the floor with a yowl.
Kairi had no idea why he fell, but knew it was a chance she couldn't afford to lose. With Sora still urging them to hurry, she rushed the small girl out the door, keeping her hand clenched tightly.
The three of them didn't stop running until they had made it out of the neighborhood, safely into the nearby forest. Perhaps they could have run further, but the girl in yellow was now so racked with sobs she couldn't take another step.
Kairi tried to give her some comforting pats on the head, knowing it always made her happy when her mother brushed her hair, but she wasn't sure if it was helping. The girl only wrapped her arms even tighter, pinning Kairi's arms to her sides.
Still not trusting they weren't being followed, Sora jumped up on a nearby stump and surveyed the forest around them.
All had fallen quiet.
Not even the birds sang any more, leaving a poignant lingering silence like a thick blanket was covering the forest and dousing the sound. No rustling leaves hinted at any approaching footsteps.
Perhaps they really had made it.
"Phew! Close one." Sora breathed out in relief and gave a tiny victory hop on the stump, nearly losing his balance in the process.
Kairi glanced over in the same direction as him to confirm his report and truly didn't see any scary man lumbering over the horizon. So that was good, at least. Even if the man had decided to follow them, perhaps he may have gotten lost somewhere along the way.
"I wonder why he tripped back there..."
Suddenly looking very proud of himself, Sora rubbed the space under his nose with a little chuckle. "Easy! I tied his boots together."
He shook his fist up into the air and shouted out back towards the town. "Take that, you bully!"
His voice echoed and bounced a few times through the trees, but only silence greeted it.
She realized that must have been what he was doing when she saw him fiddling with the man's boot laces earlier. Even though she knew him much better by now, she still found him constantly taking her by surprise. She wouldn't exactly label Sora as clever, but he had his moments.
Jumping back down from the stump, he leaned a bit closer in towards the girl who was still wailing into Kairi's dress. Kairi tried to give her another comforting hug back but it was difficult with her arms still trapped.
"What's your name?"
No answer, only tears.
Not bothered in the slightest by her hesitance to speak, he tried again. "I'm Sora and this is Kairi. She's really really nice so you don't gotta be scared any more."
The girl wiped at her watery eyes, turning them up towards him. "I'm S-selphie..."
Kairi smiled down at her as kindly as she could. There was something in that horrified stare that Kairi understood well. She knew nothing of Selphie's past, but she was sure that this girl had seen some horrible things. That look of realization and subsequent denial was unmistakable. This girl must have lost her family, and she was now petrified of being alone.
There wasn't a large gap between their ages, but Selphie was definitely younger than them. And that gave them a responsibility to keep an eye on her; that much Kairi had already decided.
"Okay, Selphie. Let's all be friends from now on."
It looked like she was trying very hard to stop crying, but was still having some trouble, so as gently as possible Kairi tried to extract herself out from her grasp.
"I really like singing sometimes when I'm sad. My mom always said it was a way to get happy again."
Fiddling with the hem of her dress while she prodded a dirt clod with her sandal, Selphie shifted shyly to the side. "I don't...know any songs."
"I'll teach you while we find somewhere safe." Grabbing her hand and starting off down the forest path, she nodded back to Sora to follow. "It's a very special song though, so it'll be our secret between friends, okay?"
Sora skipped off eagerly after them. "Can I sing too?"
"Of course."
To the three children strolling, singing through the woods, time had finally started to move forward.
After making it further into the woods they found a clearing and took some time to rest. It was then, however, that Kairi finally noticed the jagged rip just below Sora's collar and was once again very glad that she had managed to find a good sewing kit lying around.
She fished it out of her bag and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Sora, about your shirt..."
He tried to spin around to look, but wasn't able to crane his neck far enough around and wobbled. She giggled at the sight and held up her small sewing needle.
"Can I try to fix it? I'm...not very good yet, but I took some lessons!"
Sora seemed hesitant to agree, his face paling a bit. "W-what's the pointy thing for?"
"For your shirt."
She fished around through some of the spare shreds of fabric in her bag that she had been slowly gathering up as they traveled around. She felt guilty about taking it, but she also didn't like the idea of cloth blowing around in the wind unclaimed, getting stuck in the trees. They were also mostly just shreds she assumed that no one would miss. Perfect for patches, but maybe not much else. And Sora's clothes definitely were going to need patches eventually.
Kairi began holding a few up, checking if they suited him at all. She immediately rejected the floral patterns outright. He definitely wouldn't appreciate those. Maybe blue? She grabbed up the spare blue cloth and lifted it up against his sleeve. It looked...okay. Surely there was something better. After another shuffle through, she found a little half of a handkerchief and dragged it out. It had cute little red and black checkers on it, and she giggled a bit. Checkers were cute. Maybe that would do? She nodded over towards Selphie who was watching her with curious wide eyes.
"What do you think? Do you think he looks good in red?"
Selphie answered her question with a silent bob of her head.
Sora still stood awkwardly, shifting about, unable to decide if he should run as away as possible from her and her needle or not.
Jabbing a commanding finger towards a nearby little stump, she ordered him to sit.
"But..." His eyes were still wide, fixed to the pointy stick of metal.
She furrowed her brow crossly at him. Why was he being so stubborn? She was only trying to help him. "It won't hurt, so stop being a dummy and sit down."
"How is something like that not going to hurt!?" He winced and shrank back yet again, waving his arms over his head. "You got that guy earlier in the foot and he was all, bleaaaruugh!"
Selphie patted him on the shoulder, trembling slightly less now. "Sora? Didn't you say Kairi was really nice? She won't hurt you!"
Shocked that he was being chastised by the girl they had only just met, he flushed and sighed, staring down at his feet.
Kairi hid the needle behind her back for a moment, hoping she could push away his anxiety with a look filled with as much kindness as possible. "Exactly! I promise you won't feel a thing."
His shoulders relaxed, as her words seemed to finally pierce through his nervous defense. "Okay...I know you wouldn't break a promise."
Shuffling over towards the stump he sat down, still anxiously wincing as she fiddled with his collar. Wanting to watch what she was doing, he kept twisting around. All this was doing was making her job harder and she stopped to give him a reprimanding tap on the head.
"Don't move around so much silly, or you'll make me poke you on accident."
He apologized sheepishly and did his best to sit still. Not as easy feat for him, for sure. When he wasn't zonked out napping he was always bouncing around somehow. As an added precaution, she kept the hand not sewing resting gently on his left shoulder to keep him steady.
While she worked, Selphie stood nearby, watching carefully. Eventually, her voice gently squeaked to life. "Hey, Kairi? Is Sora your...brother?"
The question took her by surprise and she shook her head. "No, of course not. Why do you think that?"
"It's just...you two act like family."
She paused, the needle mid-stitch and considered it. Maybe it did seem that way, but it was only because the two of them had been thrust together in such a terrible situation and had grown very close in such a short time. They had wandered together across the kingdom together, camping out in any structure that seemed safe, snuggling close at night to keep warm. And despite the world falling apart around them, he never let her stop smiling. Figment also helped a lot with that. She was incredibly glad he had that little dragon.
"Sora is my very special friend. All of us are family now."
She felt Sora stiffen a little bit under her fingers and wipe hastily at his eyes. For a moment she wondered if her saying such a thing had made him upset. He glanced back over his shoulder at her, blinking a few times in shock. His expression was...the only way she could think to describe it was soft, and unexpectedly full of joy.
"Y-yeah?"
His face slowly melted into that cheery smile of his that she was starting to really look forward to seeing every day. She couldn't help but mirror it back.
"Yes. You're a very strange boy, but..."
"But…?" He tipped his head hopefully.
"But I like you anyway." She teased him, sticking her tongue out for good measure.
Selphie giggled and poked at some of the errant spikes of his messy hair jutting out in different directions, liking the way they lightly bounced under her finger. "I like you too!"
They were a tiny, impractical, hodge-podge family. And over the next few days their family only grew in number as they traveled across the destroyed neighborhoods, dodging from the dark beings that stalked the streets. All in all there were thirteen children all gathered together.
Also, as Sora liked to excitedly inform each new friend they made, they had found a secret hideout connected to the underground tunnels of the sewers. It was a small space, but it had just enough room for them all. They had even set up a small kitchen area, and scrounged for some spare bedding for the corner.
The entrance was through a small trap door hidden near a now abandoned farm on the outskirts of the town. Perhaps it used to be a storage cellar, but it was so empty it was hard to tell when it had last been used. Set into one of the basement walls was a narrow door leading further into the tunnels of the sewer system below the town streets. They didn't leave often, but now and again they ventured out to get more supplies and food.
When they decided it was necessary, they unlocked the door with the rusty key and navigated the underground labyrinth of the sewer. Scattered through the tunnels were multiple different exits up into town. It allowed them to travel unseen underground, and draw the least attention from the dark beings patrolling above.
One tunnel they had discovered some time ago, deep among the twisting passages lead to a door set into a stiff metal gate. Beyond it wasn't much, but they all decided it seemed like a safe place to hide should anything ever manage to find a way down underground. Their emergency safe place. They hoped they would never have to use it, but it seemed like the monsters were only increasing in number every day, their searches only increasing in intensity.
Kairi couldn't help but feel guilty, knowing that they were all likely searching for her. While she never said anything about it, she was sure somehow Sora had silently understood. He was always extremely protective. Whenever it was Kairi's turn to gather supplies, Sora always volunteered to go with her, never wanting to leave her side.
To all their new friends, it just seemed like Sora and Kairi were inseparable. Always had been, and always should be.
"Man...we barely have enough food as it is, and all you both found were some rocks?" Hayner pouted, crossing his arms against his chest. "Didn't you brag before you left that you two were the ultimate super team?"
"We are a good team!" Sora puffed out his lower lip, snatching the satchel back from Pence, who was currently prying through it. "Kairi says that these rocks can turn into food and I believe her."
Sora's initial hastiness to jump to her defense made her actually quite happy, but what both of the boys were missing, of course, was that the contents of the pouch weren't rocks: they were seeds. She had found them tucked away in a little clay pot in an abandoned farm not too far away. Kairi wasn't sure what kind of seeds they were, or if it would even be edible, but it was at least worth a try.
It had taken her some time to get more comfortable with the idea of taking anything more than fabric squares out of the half burned homes around town, but the others had made some convincing points. While the town was in shambles, there were still some treasures to be found. Some medicine, food, bandages and matches for making the fires for starters. If they could all survive this, then they could replace what they took later and apologize for it. But for now, surviving was all that mattered.
Selphie shuffled over next to Pence and peeked into the little pouch himself, wide-eyed at the contents. "Wow...big sis, can you really do something like that? Make food out of rocks?"
"They're not rocks, they're seeds."
Pence licked his lips eagerly. "Seeds are food, right?"
This time it was Vaan who decided he wanted to join in scrutinizing the contents of the pouch.
"You're saying we can eat this?" He withdrew one and sniffed it slightly, as if trying to figure out what it would taste like by scent alone.
Sensing he was about to do something silly, Penelo rushed over and snatched the pouch back. "You can't eat it yet, dummy! It's gotta grow first!"
"I wasn't gonna!"
Penelo hurried over to return the bag back to Kairi who eagerly clutched it tight to her chest.
"Thanks, Penelo. I'll go plant them right away."
She was very much looking forward to the feeling of fresh soil on her skin. There was something calming about shifting it around, and feeling it crumble in soft chunks between her fingers. She missed the gardens at the castle, and all the pretty flowers too. Hopefully they weren't feeling too lonely now that she wasn't there to say hello to them every morning.
As she pranced happily back to the cellar door, she heard another set of steps following close behind her. She didn't have to turn around to look to know that Sora was right there.
She slowed her steps, each one deliberate and slow. "Sounds like someone's following me..."
Knowing he was discovered already, he didn't even try to hide it and flounced up the last bit a distance between them. "I wanna know how you're gonna turn that into food. Can I watch?"
Did he really still think they were pebbles? There was a lot it seemed like he didn't know about the world. And yet, there was a lot that he knew she didn't. So maybe it was only fair for them to keep teaching each other one piece at a time. Feeling more encouraged then ever, she rushed forward to grab his hand and pull him along faster towards the exit, wanting to get over to the small garden around the back of the house as soon as possible.
"You can do more than watch. If you really don't know how seeds work I'm going to teach you everything."
The soil felt just as satisfying and slightly cold in her hands as she remembered, digging away at it in order to find the best place to plant the assorted seeds. Sora pawed through it himself, constantly looking in excitement back at her just to check if he was doing it correctly.
"So...we just put one of these in each hole, cover it up and then wait?"
She nodded, dropping a few into place herself and holding the rest out for Sora to try.
"We have to make sure to take care of them every day. And say nice things to them. If we do that the plants inside will wake up and pop up out of the ground to say hello."
"It's just like making new friends!" His eyes widened in wonder and he dropped one seed at a time into the beds they had dug for them. "See you, little plants! Wake up soon!"
Once the seeds were each in their own place, he helped her push the dirt over them all. Thankfully the farm also still had a watering can and well nearby with what looked and smelled like clean water that they could borrow.
Sora watched, fascinated, as she poured the seeds their first drink. "What kind of nice things do plants like to hear?"
It was a fair question, and she pondered it for a moment. "Well...back home I liked to sometimes to go out to the garden with faerie tale books."
"Huh? Your books had tails?"
She giggled again at his misunderstanding and relaxed down on the grass, watching the water seep down into the soil. "A faerie tale is a story. There are princesses and knights and magic and...even dragons like Figment, too. But maybe not as cute."
"H-he's not supposed to be cute..."
Nope, there was no way that little purple snout was anything but. "He's a stuffed animal, of course he is."
Sora didn't seem too happy with her reasoning, but couldn't seem to find a good argument to use against her and decided to just change the subject. "A-anyway...you said there were knights, right?"
"Of course! Brave and kind ones, clever and handsome ones..."
Excited, Sora grabbed up a nearby stick and swung it around like a makeshift sword. "Knights are so cool! Especially the ones with those really long capes! Wish I had one..."
Briefly, she remembered the horrible memory of the dark trio chasing after her and had to shake the image out of her head. Now wasn't the time to think about such awful things...
"I bet knights get to go on lots of adventures. And that's what I wanna do!" Sora joined her down on the grass, leaning back on his arms and tapping his feet together. "What about you? What do you wanna do?"
The question surprised her. Honestly, she hadn't really ever considered her future beyond being the person everyone had told her she was meant to be. And now that she couldn't bless the water any more, that future was down a path she could no longer follow.
"I don't know..." She could still remember her mother's words, telling her to keep doing her best, and to change the world with her kindness, but she still wasn't sure what that even meant. "Somehow I want to make this all better. But...I don't know how..."
Realizing his question had made her feel a bit melancholy again, Sora dropped back down next to her, jostling her shoulder to shake off her torrid reverie.
"It's okay if you don't know! I don't know a lot of things too."
She couldn't argue with that, and she smiled a little, remembering what he kept telling her over and over again.
"I'll just keep doing my best, right?"
"Yep!" Leaning out over the still wet dirt, he prodded it with his finger. "Hey Kairi, do you remember any of those tail stories? The plants aren't waking up yet. Maybe we need to tell them one."
"It's going to take longer than that for them to come out. Maybe a few days..."
He groaned and flopped back on the ground. "Aw, man...really?"
It was hard seeing him so disappointed and searched for something to take his mind off of it. "But I can tell you a story if you really want to hear one."
"Yeah!?"
And just like that, his face lit back up and he sat forward facing her, listening intently. She had never had an audience before, other than the plants, and she suddenly felt a little nervous. But she took a deep breath and tried to remember the words in her favorite picture book. Thankfully, she had read it over so many times it wasn't too hard.
"...and the prince, arrow drawn, was turned completely to stone by her spell. The witch laughed, thinking he would now be unable to fire his last shot to defeat her. Little did she know, she had already lost! One kiss from the princess shattered the spell, freeing him from his stone prison. His arrow flew true! The evil witch was defeated by the unstoppable force of-"
"Wait, a second, what's that?"
Sora had been a wonderful listener up until now, cheering and emoting at all the right parts, but now had suddenly interjected, looking too baffled now to let her go on without interrupting.
"What's what?"
He lifted his head up, trying to recall. "One...kits from the princess? What is that?"
"A kiss. Don't you know what that is?"
His face looked just as blankly back at her as before.
"It's..." She trailed off, realizing just how hard it was going to be to explain it. "It's what people do when they like each other a lot. They say it's supposed to be super magical too, and can help break curses and everything."
Sora hummed a little, tipping his head back and forth. "But...what is it?"
"Um..." Once more, she was at a loss on exactly what to say. She remembered seeing some pictures in her books, but actually putting it to words made her realize she wasn't sure herself. "Well...its when one person touches their mouth to the other person. Like on their cheek."
Just to help explain, she reached over and tapped him on the side of the face.
He frowned and rubbed at the spot she had just prodded with her finger. "Huh? That sounds kinda weird..."
Of course he would say that.
"It's supposed to be romantic. It's a way you let someone know you like them. Sometimes when you care about someone so much there aren't any words to tell them properly."
"If there isn't a word for it, can't you just make up a new word?" He innocently flicked at a blade of grass. "Just say, uh...'paopu!'"
"...Paopu?" Really? What kind of garbled nonsense word was that?
"Sure. That could mean you like someone a lot, right?" He raised his hands up over his head in victory. "Ta-da! I made a new word!"
Obviously he was missing the finer points of some things. Was it even possible to teach him something like this? When she had tried to teach him about basic greetings like bows and handshakes, he had been so baffled at the very idea of it that when she told him to take her hand and 'shake' he just started dancing. So something told her that certain nuances of culture were prone to going straight over his head.
She folded her hands in her lap, trying to look as adult and authoritative as possible. "There are some things you don't just...say."
He still seemed set in his way of thinking, and chewed at the side of his mouth. "Is that another one of those rules?"
Even if she didn't already know, the sharp wrinkling of his nose was enough for her to understand exactly how he felt about rules and order. Everything about him was like the opposite: free and somewhat impulsive. It didn't help that he was stubborn, too.
In fact, the thing she felt most frustrated about with this boy, sometimes, was how stubborn he was when he thought something. Everyone always had said she was the head-strong one, just like her mother. She had taken it as a source of pride, and didn't think anyone else could match it. She wondered what those people would say about this boy if they had met him.
Perhaps it wasn't worth trying to explain it after all.
"I think a kiss is just something you have to try before you understand it."
"Uh-huh. Have you tried a kiss?"
She paused, realizing immediately what he was getting at. "No, but-"
He grinned cheekily back at her. "Then how do you know?"
Getting even more worked up now at the triumphant look he was giving her, she shook a reprimanding finger in his direction. "I only haven't because I couldn't before!"
She knew it had been explicitly restricted for her to not touch anyone, let alone kiss them, but it had been so prominent and lovely sounding in all of her stories she couldn't help but wonder. She had day dreams sometimes of helping out some poor prince who had been careless enough to get himself turned into a frog of all things. And she sometimes wondered if frogs she met were secretly royalty. There was one time she had been curious enough that when she had spotted a big warty frog by the side of the koi pond, she decided to follow him. It was fat and bloated after a hearty lunch of flies and she caught it easily, but as it squirmed under her fingers it left slicks of slime all over.
The goop was certainly not something she found appealing enough to kiss. She promptly released it back into the pond, wiped her hands down on the grass and never told a soul.
She shook the memory from her mind and frowned, trying to find the most simple way to explain all the nuances of romance to the free-spirited boy covered in dirt smudges next to her.
"All you have to know is that a kiss that means you want to be together forever with someone special. That's all."
"Oh..." He sounded a bit more reflective than before, so she glanced back over at him. He was currently prodding at the ground with a little stick as if he was trying to look busy. "I don't know if I get it, but I wouldn't mind that, I think. And...you're special, so..."
Kairi brightened. There was something kind of...sweet and cute about him when he got shy like that. And she had a pretty strong feeling that buried underneath his dirty face and unkempt manners, there was something pretty special in him, too. Before he could take any of it back, and before she could second guess it herself, she leaned forward and touched her lips softly against the side of his face. He flinched and gulped, dropping the twig he was playing with, but didn't move away.
It wasn't exactly what she thought it would be like, but he was warm and his hair had tickled a little as it brushed against her sensitive skin, still unused to human contact. Her heart thumped at the forbidden nature of it all, but more out of wonder than fear. Somehow it was all oddly satisfying. And while Sora wasn't all that princely, at least he wasn't covered in slime like a frog.
Her mouth left a tiny wet smudge on his cheek and he rubbed at it, blinking back his befuddlement. After a moment when he finally managed to recover from his initial surprise, Sora smiled toothily back at her.
"That wasn't so bad..." Something clicked in his head and he jumped to his feet, excited. "Hey, kisses are magic, right? Does that mean I get some cool magic power now?"
"I'm not sure that's-" She tried to speak, but he was far too caught up in his fantasy to hear her.
"Maybe it made me super strong! You think?" He reached back for his stick and started to swing it around like a sword with renewed vigor, bobbing and weaving around the garden as he fought an invisible army. "Wait...maybe it doesn't work if I wiped it off."
Kairi shook her head firmly. "Kisses are way stronger than that! You can't just wipe away the feelings behind them."
"Well, uh...just to be safe, can I get another one?"
Embarrassed that he could say such a thing so easily, she flushed and spun away before he could get a good look at her face. "D-don't be silly."
Just as she expected, he was still missing the point entirely.
She mulled over exactly how she wanted to correct him when her eyes locked eyes on Selphie, staring back at the two of them absolutely frozen, holding open the door to the hidden cellar.
"S-Selphie!? When did you-"
Instantly realizing she had been spotted, Selphie yelped and ducked back down the stairs, letting the door clatter down behind her.
Oops. How much had she seen? A flush of heat washed over her face and this time Sora definitely noticed. He leaned over, poking her on the nose.
"You're all red. Are you okay?" Without waiting for her answer, he glanced back over at the entrance to the cellar. "Was that really Selphie? Why did she leave so fast? We cudda shown her the plants!"
Feeling snapped out of her petrified embarrassment, and without answering a single one of his questions, Kairi raced back to the secret door. Sora quickly followed.
It took a while for their eyes to adjust to the sudden dimness of the basement. So rather than seeing their friends, they were met by the sound of their twittering laughter as the gossip started making the rounds. Kairi focused intently on her shoes and sighed.
Pence was the first to pipe up, doing his best to stifle his own chuckles. "Did you two have fuuun?"
Baffled by everyone's reactions, and completely ignoring any possible connotations in Pence's question, Sora nodded happily.
"Yeah! She taught me all about seeds and plants. Then she told me a story and even gave me special powers."
Confused, Pence glanced briefly back at the embarassed girl behind him, trying desperately to turn invisible. "Special powers? How?"
"She kissed me. Right here!" He jabbed his own finger into his cheek and burst out into a beaming sunshine smile. "Now I'm super strong!"
Kairi nearly gasped out loud. Did he actually admit it in front of everyone? Just like that? She was starting to think maybe she had made a serious mistake.
Hayner visibly recoiled. "Ew! Selphie was telling the truth!?"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Stamping her foot indignantly, Selphie ignored Sora and started pawing at Hayner's arm. "I told you I wasn't lying, Hayner! I saw them!"
Gau, the wild child that he was, started dancing in a circle around the group, merrily singing amid chorts and snickers. "Sora and Kairi! Kiss-ing! Lovey, love and kiss-ing!"
Frozen, Kairi gaped at the ground, too shocked to say anything. Still clueless, Sora wasn't as speechless and immediately started to complain.
"S-so what if she did? It's because we're friends!"
Hayner gave another horrified grimace and shrank away. "That's gross! Are you saying you like a girl."
Pence leaned forward, eyes wide. "I think he likes her a lot."
Still not understanding the problem, Sora crossed his arms. "Of course I like her. She's cares so much about everybody and she's the best at fixing clothes and stuff."
Olette cooed, clasping her hands together and swaying side to side with a shy giggle. "If you like someone and kiss them, that means you have to get married!"
"Married?" He tipped his head, to the side, trying to decipher the meaning. "What's that? It's not bad is it?"
Vaan glanced at him skeptically. "You really don't know?"
"Didn't you have parents, Sora? A mom and a dad?" Penelo also seemed baffled at his lack of cultural awareness. "Being married is like that."
Sora frowned and shook his head. "I don't remember..."
Penelo tried again. "Well, er...then being married is like starting a family."
"Being a family is great! We are all family, aren't we?" He smiled and leaned backwards to look up into Kairi's field of vision as she continued to wait for the floor to swallow her up whole. "Kairi, does that mean we're married now?"
Both Olette and Selphie started giggling and Kairi shrank back down into her shoulders, clapping her hands to her face, deciding her her incredibly, unbelievably fascinating sandals were actually not nearly as interesting as the insides of her palms.
Before any of the girls could say more, Hayner intercepted, pulling Sora away. "Wait just a minute! Getting married is really, really bad. My dad told me that marriage is like losing your freedom. There are tons of rules and things. It's awful!"
"Huh? R-really?" Sora pulled a disgusted face, immediately shuffling backwards. He retreated so quickly he tripped and thumped to the ground, but didn't seem to care. "Rules are the worst! I changed my mind! I don't wanna any more!"
Pence couldn't stop snickering, and Gau was still insisting on singing about love, spinning in circles. Face now red from the teasing, Sora cast a hopeless look back over at Kairi. He didn't ask, but she could tell he wanted to know if he was somehow now doomed to be her future husband.
How could he be so clueless? He didn't have a single shred of romance in him at all, did he? Feeling more than a little bit upset with him over the whole thing, she did the only other thing she could do when faced with something so humiliating: deflect with anger. She huffed and stamped one foot on the ground.
"Well you don't have to worry about that, ever! When I get married, it's going to be with someone princely and perfect. Not you!"
His face squished up in a mixture of both confusion and indignation. "F-fine! I didn't wanna get married anyway!"
Penelo giggled. "Now, now be careful. If you two start fighting you'll have to kiss and makeup. That's what my mom always told me."
Kisses and makeup? Kairi only knew makeup as something she had to wear on her face a couple awful times during formal events. It was really hot and sticky. The last thing she wanted to do was put on more of that stuff. And she was quite done with kisses now, too, thanks.
"I hate wearing makeup! And I'm not kissing him again, ever!"
"But I..." His face crumbling into sorrow, Sora shook his head back and forth so rapidly it looked painful. "I-I'm sorry...I don't wanna fight..."
Kairi took one look at him and relented. It was so incredibly difficult to stay upset at a face like that. He was so earnest and sweet it was almost painful. She apologized quickly herself, but despite it, he still looked a bit somber, and began glumly picking at a loose thread in his pants.
"But, um...Sora, even if we don't get married it doesn't mean I can't like you."
"R-really?" He hesitantly gave her a hopeful look and she nodded back to reassure him. This managed to instantly restore his happiness to full and he cheered.
Hayner groaned at the sound. "I dunno what you're so happy about."
"It's cuz you're jealous." Pence snickered again and did his best to escape from Hayner's tackles. The two of them raced around the room, accidentally bumping into Vaan on the way. He joined in, chasing after the both of them, dragging Penelo along with him. Sora eagerly jumped into the race himself, intercepting Hayner with a chuckle and before long the whole room slowly devolved into a giant game of tag.
Not one of them ever stopped to question if it was right to play a game in a dark time like this. None of them worried if they would make it through the dark times or not. Maybe it was because they were just children, but perhaps it was simply because they had too much hope to even consider giving up.
To anyone who braved to venture out into the burning ashes of the town, it would seem like all life had long been extinguished there. For nothing stirred in that petrified place but monsters in the shadows, and people who had succumbed to its grip. All that lingered were broken memories of the past and the ghosts that haunted them. Yet beneath the black smudges of charcoal, in the forgotten tunnels, there was still a small pocket of laughter and warmth. Of children huddled close together as their campfire licked the fringes of darkness away.
Even in the bleakest of times, there was still love hidden somewhere.
It may have only been a little under two weeks, spent like that in their own little family, but to Kairi it almost felt like she had found a new life there. It was a happiness she knew balanced on a thin edge.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long before it fell.
A/N: Just wanted to say thanks for reading again! This chapter took a very long time to complete, and that is because I actually wrote it along with the next one. (Basically just started writing the full 'Darkfall' section until I finished it then realized it was way too long for one chapter and had to split it after the fact...)
So, good news is the next chapter will be up really soon as well! Just as soon as I finish the final edits, so look forward to another update shortly. Apologies that most of the 'juicy' stuff is going to be saved for that one, so this chapter is a bit of an odd little goose.
Take care for now!
-A. Moth