AN/ Update May 2016: This is one of the lengthier edits amongst all the other 2016 Kairi edits. I didn't mean for it to be as long as it ended up being, but hey, I think it's pretty good. It's definitely better than it was before.

Chapter 46: A Meeting

Sora's Shadow winced and shielded his eyes, glaring over the bright shores of Destiny Islands. He stood on a hill that looked over the beach below, but the water couldn't have been more than fifty feet away.

"Damn… this world is bright…" he grumbled, scrunching up his face.

He didn't mean just the sunlight, either. The very Heart of this world was probably the brightest he'd ever encountered, and it was a little… Well, he wasn't sure how long he could stay, and he'd leave it at that. He was already beginning to get a headache.

"Why did I come here again?" he muttered to himself, blinking and trying to get his eyes used to the sunlight reflecting off the sand and off the waves. It was horrendously bright. "To check and see what Sora's homeworld was like, I guess, but am I actually gonna find anything interesting here?"

Maybe if he snooped around Sora's house… Ugh, did he really care that much? He didn't think he did.

He was about to leave when something interesting did pass his way.

Or rather, someone.

It was Kairi, and… someone else. A friend of hers, probably, maybe a friend of Sora's. Sora's Shadow couldn't put a name to the face, but her face bumped around in some of the memories in his head—Sora's borrowed memories. Maybe a name would come to him eventually. Who cared, though.

Kairi was the really interesting bit.

"I'm serious, Selphie," she said, suppressing a groan. Selphie! That was the name.

"Are you sure?" Selphie asked. She was hovering awfully close to Kairi as they walked, trying to crane and get a good look at Kairi's face. Clearly, that was hard for her to do when Kairi kept looking away from her. "I know things have been rough for you lately, so me and Tidus thought—"

"I'm fine," Kairi argued. "I'm- I'm fine. I'll catch up with you later—I just wanna sit near the beach and get some of this excess homework done."

Selphie let out a long, dramatic sigh. "Alright, alright," she said. "I know you're behind on school, too—we're gonna be on the play island, so you know where to find us!" She waved at Kairi, and turned around and headed the opposite direction Kairi was going. Sora's Shadow couldn't see her face any longer, but he could feel the scowl that was on it. She was upset about something, that was for sure. About Kairi, maybe?

Sora's Shadow turned his attention to Kairi. She was making her way down the hill and to the beach. Not really thinking about it, he followed after her.

There was something tugging in his chest, at the sight of her. Something stirring in the back of his mind, memories pressing together inside his head. Laughing, twirling, running with Kairi along these shores…

They weren't his memories, they were Sora's, but he turned them over a few times in his mind anyway. They made something bubble up inside him, something that made him smile.

When he first saw Kairi, he'd thought he'd just bug her, see what info about Sora he could squeeze out of her. But now all he wanted was to just… He wasn't sure. Talk to her, maybe? She probably couldn't see him. Or hear him.

If only she could…

She'd settled herself down in the sand, out of the way of the waves, a pen in paper in her hand. Sora's Shadow wasn't quite sure what he was doing, still, but slowly, ever so slowly, he approached her.

He wasn't sure if his weight made any impression on the sand, nor was he sure if he was making any sound—or at least sound that Kairi could hear. Being on a strange plane of existence was, most of the time, pretty cool. Right now it kind of sucked, though.

"Then again, I probably don't actually want her to see me," Sora's Shadow remembered belatedly, thinking about who his face looked like. Sure, if he was going for the frighten approach, then looking exactly like Sora would be useful here. But, he wasn't trying to scare her.

He just wanted to talk to her.

Maybe she could hear him?

"Better not hope on that," he muttered to himself. "What's she doing, anyway? Oh!" He studied over her shoulder, standing behind her and a little to the left. "Is this one of her letters to Sora?" He plucked a little at her mind to find out, though, that was hard. She was extremely bright, too—but he could see her dark thoughts well enough. The negative ones. The doubts, the anger, the…

Oh, no, he definitely couldn't do that long before he got a headache.

You shouldn't be here, a voice in him argued. Being a creature of darkness on a world this full of light is dangerous, and being close to HER—

He tuned the voice out.

He leaned a little closer to Kairi—not too close, since he could probably bump her and that would be awkward—reading over her shoulder. Might as well read the letter now than find it later…

"Wait, hang on," he said. She was writing Namine's name on the page, not Sora's. Immediately he lost interest.

The letter didn't matter, anyway. Sora's Shadow took a deep breath, sort of just… relishing in standing right here. Kairi seemed mad about something—he could feel that well enough—but he couldn't find any interest to care.

It was kind of nice to just… be here with her. It resonated with those borrowed memories inside him, made that feeling swell up in his chest again. He really wanted, more than anything right now, to talk to her.

He wasn't totally sure why. Or what he'd say. Nor did he think long about how she'd react, but…

He shook his head hard, trying to clear it of that thought.

"Oh, cut it out!" he scolded himself, taking an intentional step away from Kairi. "You're Sora's Shadow, you don't have any reason or time in your busy schedule to care about her—"

Kairi looked up, and looked right at him.

xxx

She'd heard a voice.

Kairi'd heard a voice, she was sure of that.

"Oh, cut it out… you don't have any… or time in your… care about—"

It had cut in an out, like when you didn't quite have your radio tuned to the right station.

But, that was definitely someone's voice, and they sounded pretty close to her. Kairi looked first to her left, which she thought the sound had come from, and when she didn't see anyone there, turned to the right…

No one. There was no one there.

"Great," she sighed to herself. "Apparently you're going crazy, now." Shaking her head and the voice out of her mind, Kairi bent over to write again.

"Uh, you're definitely not going crazy."

Kairi sat up rigid and slammed her pen into the sand beside her. That was definitely a voice, and it was definitely coming from her left. She whipped her head in that direction, but still, no one was there, and there really wasn't anywhere to hide in the immediate vicinity.

Kairi stared at the empty air, where there should have been a person.

After a second of silence, she scoffed.

"Well, that's comforting," she said. If she was talking to someone who wasn't actually standing right next to her, then hopefully they would reply and tell her what in the worlds was going on. And, if no one was really there…

Well, she didn't want to think about that option.

"I'm here, I'm here!" A frantic voice said. Sounded like a guy. "I mean, uh, this is a little awkward." There was noise that sounded like something between someone clearing their throat and laughter. "I'm, uh? You can't see me? Not a lot of people can. It, um. It sucks?"

Kairi stared at where the voice sounded like it was coming from. It was much, much clearer now. She wasn't sure if she should start packing up her things and maybe, leaving, or if she should…?

A part of her thought maybe she should stick around and see what this was all about, though she couldn't help but continue to gape at the absurdity of it. Actually, it was less gaping, and more scowling now.

"You're… invisible?" she pressed. It felt weird even to say. She'd seen a lot of strange things in the past few months, but the thought of someone invisible talking to her was kind of hard to wrap her head around.

"Um… yeah?"

Kairi's eyes flickered down to the sand. Oh, sure enough… there was a set of footprints in the sand.

That, actually… That was kind of freaky.

Kairi took a deep breath. Swallowed. Tried to figure out what she wanted to say.

"Alright… how, um, did you? Get?" She wasn't even sure where to start. Did she ask how he got like that, or did she ask who he was? Where he came from? What he was doing here? Actually, that was a good question. "Why did you decide to talk to me, of all people?" she asked.

"Well actually it's a little more complicated than—" The guy broke off. Grumbled to himself for a moment. "I mean, I can't just walk up to anyone and say hello! There are a lot of people who can't hear me, either. You're, uh, one of the first I've seen in a while who can…?"

"Wait a minute, no one can hear you, either?" Kairi demanded. "What the heck happened to you!?"

She still hadn't asked who he was, either. Was he someone who lived on the Islands? No, she should recognize him—even by his voice—if he did.

"Look, it, it's not- It doesn't matter."

Kairi let out a sharp laugh, having a hard time believing that. "It doesn't matter? You mean, you don't want to get un-invisible or anything?"

"Well it's not quite as simple as…!"

"Who are you?"

Silence.

The footprints in the sand shifted.

"That's, um, that's not important either."

"Not even… a name you can tell me?" Kairi ventured, her eyebrows raising. She couldn't believe this guy.

"Um… Listen, it's not important."

"What do you mean it's not important! I've got to call you something." She waited a moment, and when he still didn't seem to want to provide his name, she followed up with: "Come on, you can at least give me a fake name, can't you?"

The guy spluttered, and from the way the footprints moved in the sand, she'd say he'd backpedaled.

"Those aren't so easy to come up with on the spot!"

Kairi gaped at him—or, where she thought he should be—for a moment longer. Not so easy to come up with on the spot? She could come up with three!

Deciding to tease, and maybe pressure him into giving her a real answer, she leaned back, grinning slyly. Anyone who knew her would say that grin meant trouble.

"Sure they are," she said, in an almost sing-song tone. "Listen, I'll call you… Gary!"

"Please don't."

Kairi chuckled, and leaned towards him. "Then why don't you tell me your real name. Gary." The added Gary at the end was just to extra pressure him.

"I- Listen." The guy cleared his throat. "It's- It's really not important what my name is."

"That's not you, is it, Sora?" Kairi asked, smile fading into something extremely serious. If it was, he could just tell her he managed to get himself turned invisible somehow. Not that she was really sure why she thought this might be Sora.

There was just something about… the way his voice sounded. The way he reacted to the things she said. Just the general… feel of being around him that seemed to tug at her.

But, the guy—she wasn't actually going to call him Gary—did something decidedly un-Sora-like in response.

He burst out laughing, then in a mocking tone:

"PFF, NOPE, I'm definitely not Sora. Betcha wish I was, don't you sweetheart?" He had himself a good chuckle at that, like it was funny. "I mean, that would mean he actually came home, for starters, and—"

Kairi's eyebrows shot upwards, and she leaned away from him. First of all, sweetheart? Had he just called her sweetheart? And, second of all, what the heck did he mean by any of that!

He seemed to realize himself, though, and his chuckles became something more like a coughing fit.

"I mean, uh. I- I mean…"

"Wait a minute!" Kairi said, before he could try and explain himself. She would've loved to hear it, and hear him probably make a fool of himself after that, but, there was something a little more pressing she needed to know. "Did- Did you just say you know Sora?"

"I… Yeah, you could say that."

He seemed hesitant.

"Like, the Sora I know," Kairi pressed, just to be sure they were talking about the same person. "He's medium height, spikey brown hair, I'd say almost always smiling or being lazy but I bet he's being pretty broody right now—"

"Yeah, yeah, that Sora!" the guy interrupted before she could describe Sora any further. "Same Sora. He, uh, mentioned you, Kairi."

"…I didn't tell you my name?"

"Oh! Um. Sora did."

Kairi squinted at the guy (or rather, still, where he should be standing—or where he was standing but she couldn't see him standing, whatever). He sure did seem nervous about… a lot of things. Was that just how he was, or… was something up?

"How do you know Sora, anyway?" Kairi asked him, deciding to just keep focusing on that.

"Only in passing," the guy replied. "I met him once, we talked for a bit, it was cool."

They'd talked for a bit!

Kairi lurched out of her sitting position and onto her knees.

"Is he okay!?" she asked, perhaps more desperately than she needed to.

"Um… It was a while ago." Kairi got the sense he was shrugging, even if she couldn't see it. "So, who knows how he's doing now!" The guy laughed nervously. "But, um? He seemed like a pretty nice guy. Wish I'd gotten to know him better, haha."

Kairi slowly sat back down.

Then she looked at this invisible guy, quizzically.

"You are real, right?" she demanded. "This isn't some kind of elaborate hallucination?"

"No, no, I'm definitely real!"

"Proof?"

"Uhhhhhh…." The guy started grumbling to himself. "Ahh… weeeell, let's… um… Hmm."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Look, just. Hold out our hand and let me touch it or something—just because you're invisible doesn't mean you're incorporeal!"

"Oh. Yeah." He seemed surprised by that notion, or, perhaps, a bit unsure. He hummed to himself a moment more, and then: "Actually, uh, hold out your hand, I guess. Since you can't see me if I were to hold out mine."

"Fair," Kairi admitted.

She held out her hand.

There was the sound of feet against sand, the sense of movement above her, and then something was holding her hand. Another hand! Kairi squeezed experimentally at his fingers, harder than she probably needed to, and with his slight yelp of pain in response, she figured that, yeah, this was legit.

She pulled her hand away and looked at him, tried to look at him again. He might have been real, but this was still really weird.

But… then again…

Maybe she shouldn't trust a stranger she'd just met, especially considering he was invisible, but he was the first lead on Sora she'd ever had. And, she had a feeling he might know more than he was letting on.

"So… you met Sora?" she asked, figuring that to be the best place to start.

"I, yeah, I did. Like I said, it was a while ago." The guy seemed nervous for some reason. "Wish I, uh, wish I'd run into him more than once. He seemed like a pretty cool guy."

"You have no idea where he was heading?" Kairi pressed. He definitely knew something, she was sure of it, it was just a matter of getting it out of him.

"Uh, nope. He didn't mention."

Kairi sighed. Asking about Sora directly didn't seem to be getting her anywhere. Maybe this guy really didn't know that much.

She decided to try something else.

"Hey, you're from another world, right?" she asked. It seemed a good way to otherwise start a conversation, and, she had been wondering. Of course, she highly doubted he was a Destiny Islands native, but some confirmation would be nice.

"Yup."

"Cool," Kairi said. Now that she knew that, and, not being really interested in where he was from, she continued to what she really cared about. "So, you must have some way you got here, huh? Any chance you can take me with you? Even just, to one different world." She knew traveling with someone who was invisible wasn't going to go well in the end, but, she hoped things would be a lot easier to figure out once she was off Destiny Islands.

"Ooooh, uh, no," the guy said. He coughed. "Sorry. It, uh. The way I get around really only carries one person. That one person being me."

"Oh…" Kairi sighed, frowning. She supposed she shouldn't have expected anything better, though, considering her luck.

"Sorry," the guy repeated. "I'd, uh, I swear I'd help you if I could."

Kairi waved the offer off. "It's fine," she said.

"But, uh, anyway. I… I really need to get going. I… I'm…" He hesitated there. Kairi really didn't have anything to go on besides an assumption, but regardless, she'd say he was probably trying to find the best thing to say. "I've just, gotta get going."

"What? Got some sort of important invisible-people meeting to get to?" Kairi teased.

"No! I've just- I've got to go."

"Okay, okay," Kairi said. "I'm not keeping you."

"Um…"

Kairi waited for him to continue. He didn't.

"Yeah?" she prompted.

"Um, well, I… I could come back another time, if you'd like?" he said, starting off slowly and then saying it a total rush by the end. Was he always this… nervous?

"I…" Kairi hesitated. Talking to an invisible person was still pretty high up there on the strange list, but… It was probably the only interesting thing that had happened to her recently. Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Yeah. That'd be great," she told him. "Same time, same place, tomorrow?"

"Uh, w… yeah! Sure!" He almost sounded surprised she'd agreed. "And, uh, hey, I'm… I'm glad I got to meet you. It, uh… I mean, it wasn't like I came here to meet you or anything, haha, I had no idea you lived here obviously but it was nice talking to, and, uh, I'm glad? I'm glad."

Kairi raised her eyebrows at that, not sure what to make of it.

"Nice to meet you too, I… guess," she told him.

Like she'd previously thought, it certainly had been interesting. And, livened up a kind of dull day.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yup." Kairi nodded. "Tomorrow."

"Ok! Bye."

"Bye."

There wasn't a noise, or anything, really, to indicate he was gone. Kairi waited about five seconds, then cautiously reached out to where he'd previously been standing. Her hand went right through the air. He must've left, somehow.

There were no footprints in the sand leading away from her, but the set in the sand from his weight hadn't vanished either, so, she really hadn't imagined all this.

Kairi let out a long breath.

She hoped she wouldn't regret whatever it was she'd just gotten herself into.