Chapter 8

Him and his Memories

Point of View: Sora

I carefully placed a framed photograph on the drawer beside the bed and fell back onto my bed with a loud thud. I sighed. I was finished unpacking at last. Tilting my head sideways toward the picture, my strained eyes softened. It showed all of us, and I mean all of us.

Me, Riku, Kairi, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka. The whole group before everything happened, and everything fell apart. I smiled at the aged photograph. I was squished between Tidus and Wakka. Kairi and Selphie were kneeled on the side, and Riku was in the back, his arms crossed and his expression serious.

Tidus and I both held our wooden swords, ready to fight. Wakka rested his arm on my shoulder, his grin wide, and his hair...red. Okay, his hair just draws attention. Riku looks Riku. I can't remember the last time he actually smiled in a picture. He wore a threatening glare on his face that read 'get-that-camera-out-of-my-face.' I chuckled at his pose.

Selphie and Kairi looked so sweet and innocent. Their expressions showed nothing but joy. They wore leis and tucked flowers behind their ears. Their eyes were merry, shining so beautifully. My gaze shifted to Kairi alone.

With her crystal eyes glistening, and pink tinted lips smiling, she truly looked like a little angel on earth.

Shifting my view to a suitcase still lying idly on the floor, a thought occurred to me. I smirked. I bet Kairi's having a hard time unpacking.

My thoughts went back to the boat ride over. I frowned incredibly.

"Kairi!"

"I-I..."

"I need to tell you something. But not here, not now. We'll talk soon..."

I growled at the horrible memory. I can't believe I didn't tell her... It was at the tip of my tongue! If I just said, "Kairi, I love you," then everything would be alright...or would it...?

I took this new perspective into view.

Suppose I did say it...what did I expect her to reply? 'Oh Sora! I've been waiting my whole life to hear that! I love you too!' I sighed. No...she wasn't the type. She'd probably be totally shocked, and say something like 'Oh...that's nice...' I shut my eyes tight. Maybe it was best that my message wasn't delivered.

"I didn't say it to her, not because I was nervous..."

I openly my eyes again slowly.

"...it's because I was afraid she wouldn't say it back."

"Sora!"

I jumped up.

Kairi?

"Sora!"

I listened closely. Sigh. No, Janice. It was amazing how much she reminded me of her. She looks so much like her, and lately, she's been sounding like her. I stared into the ceiling.

"What?"

"Don't you want to check out this place?"

"Not really..."

"Sora, you lazy bum!"

This time, I really did jump up. Okay, maybe boarding with her was a bad idea. She was completely reminding me of her right now. The only person who's ever said that to me, let alone called me that was Kairi, and that was four years ago. Four years ago was the Kairi I fell in love with. This Kairi...it's the same Kairi, thought a bit clueless...

Seriously, I've been throwing at her the most obvious hints over and over again, I'm surprised she hasn't said something like, 'Is there something wrong?' or 'Why do you keep bringing up the same topics?' Is she really that oblivious to the outside world, or is she just too deep within her own little fantasy world? I winced slightly from this new thought. If that's the case, then she'll probably never find out this way. She'll find someone else too soon, and before long, my words will be like a forgotten promise.

Snatching my navy blue backpack, I carefully pulled out an old leather covered book. My scrapbook. Plopping myself gently on the bed, I warily turned the fragile pages. I smiled over the silly pictures. I remember giving Tidus my mom's camera she entrusted me with. I was prying open Riku's mouth at the edges, and Tidus snapped the picture, all according to plan. Then, there was one, one hilarious picture of Selphie, courtesy of Wakka. It was when we were seven. He had told me she carried with her a little doll that was absolutely inseparable from her. Being the mischievous critter that I was, I cooked up a plan to get that from her. We all knew she had a huge crush on Tidus, even way back then. So, with Wakka handling the camera, we sent Tidus with a huge bouquet of flowers for her, then, I snuck past her, and snatched the little doll she had temporarily set aside. She saw me, and oh, it was the best picture yet!

Selphie can be really cute when she's happy, but when she's mad, it's a real sight! With her green eyes fierce and huge mouth screaming at me, it proved to be a subject that we've laughed over for many years thereafter. So...there's the picture with me with a raggedy doll tucked under my arm, laughing while running away from a fuming mad Selphie, waving her fist in the air as she chased after me. Of course she got her doll back when she cornered me in the Secret Place. Then, she didn't talk to me or Tidus for a week, she had no idea Wakka took this picture, and she still doesn't know till this day...

I flipped a few pages over. There was a sweet picture of Kairi and Selphie on the beach when they were twelve or thirteen. With their arms slinked over each other's shoulder, they really looked like good friends. I remember that was the day they became instant friends, and friends till this day they are. I guess you could say it was the same for Riku and me.

I flipped the page. There was Riku and me, both smiling. Yup, Riku actually smiled. When we first met, I found we were pretty much alike, both mischievous and competitive. We didn't get along at first, but after a good long sword fight, apparently I was a worthy opponent.

There were many pictures after that, but mainly of the three of us: me, Riku, and Kairi. We've been best friends ever since we met each other, even before Kairi and Selphie were friends.

Then, there's the second to last picture...

Kairi was right, it was someone important to me, but I wouldn't call her a girlfriend. Four years ago, girlfriend would be about right, but a lot of things have changed. Why I wouldn't want Kairi to see it? Because Riku wrote 'I love her' all over the back as a joke.

I pulled on my shoes then leniently walked outside where Janice met me. I slipped onto my face a pair of sunglasses, for the sun was at its highest, and the golden rays blinded me.

"So...where we heading?"

"First stop, the college," Janice informed me, taking out her own pair of shades.

She smiled sweetly.

"Ready?"

I was a bit taken back by her resemblance even more when she smiled, but there was a big difference. I grinned.

"Let's go."

Pearl Island...I remember coming here so many years before. The three of us came here with my mom on a vacation in the summer. I've been back here from time to time, on my own, though. I know my way around pretty much, and most of the natives. On the sides of the road are shops the people set up.

"Wow, this place is really nice!" Janice said, awed.

"Yeah. It's really beautiful here too."

It's true. It's quite similar to our home island, with the idea that civilization just began, and this was some sort of fisherman village. But really, that's just the sort of appearance the island wants to take. The beaches are clean, and there are many nature sights, truly beautiful.

We stopped to check out some of the stands that caught our eye. Okay, truth is, Janice dragged me to check them out when she spied some girly accessories. She selected a couple of bracelets and pulled out her wallet to pay. Hey, what did you expect? Me offer to pay for her?!

"Hello Sora! Good to see you again!"

"Hi Nina, how's Galen?"

I smiled at the kind old woman whom I met the first time I visited the island. She wore a red bandana over her snowy hair, and a blue flower print dress. Round glasses were set before her soft brown eyes.

"He's fine. So, I suppose you're here to attend the college on this island?"

"Yup!" I answered cheerfully, "See? I told you I'd go here!"

She laughed merrily.

"Hey Janice, this is Nina. She's in charge of this stand here," I introduced her to Nina.

"So, who's this young lady? Your girlfriend? Whatever happened to that Kylie girl?"

I blushed madly.

"No, it's Kairi, and we're just friends. This is Janice. We're boarding together and that's it."

Janice giggled, "Nice to meet you, ma'am!"

"Likewise."

"Well, I'd better pay now," Janice stated, opening her wallet.

"No, no, it's on the house," Nina said with a laugh, "Hope you enjoy your time on the island!"

"Thanks ma'am!"

"Call me Nina." She said with a smile, "I feel so old whenever a youngster calls me 'ma'am'."

We laughed at this comment as we bid her goodbye and walked on.

"She seems really nice," Janice commented.

"She is!"

"Sounds like you know the people pretty well," she said as 'Hey Sora!'-s were thrown our way.

"I guess you could say that!" I blushed.

We walked on, passing an old fisherman. The second we walked past him, he pounced on me. Janice screamed wildly, and started shouting, "Help! Rapist!"

I laughed at her sudden reaction.

"Calm down, Janice, this is Greg, the fisherman, friend of mine!"

Speaking to Greg, I said,

"Heh, you never get tired of trying to scare me do ya?"

The old man smiled, "Hey, the first time I did that to you, you ran away crying to your mama!"

I grinned, blushing. Greg wore overalls over a plaid shirt. A straw hat shaded his darkly tanned face. His grayish white hair curled, reminding me of cauliflower.

"Sorry to scare you, lil' lady," he said to Janice.

"Heh...yeah...nice to meet you Greg, I'm Janice," she said blushing with embarrassment.

"Listen here, if ya ever need fishies, you come to Greg, ya hear?"

"S-sure," Janice said shakily, still blushing madly.

"By the way!" Greg called after us as we walked on, "I hear Ruby's been cookin' up a new spice!"

"Thanks for the tip!" I called to him.

We walked on again.

"He's...cool..." Janice said, her face still beet red.

"Yeah, he used to be a sea captain in his days," I informed her, "You should've seen your face!"

Janice made a face at me as I just kept laughing.

"Hey...who's Ruby?"

"Oh, she's this awesome cook who runs the Inner Inn with her husband!"

"Inner Inn...?"

"Well, yeah, there's the Outer Inn, then the Inner Inn. She makes awesome curry..." my eyes just lit up as I said that.

"She has a son; he says he hates his real name, so I just call him 'Rock'. We're pretty good friends."

Janice giggled at this new information.

"Yeah, we can pay her a visit later on."

"Tell me more about the natives here!" she insisted.

So, I ended up telling her about Naomi, a sweet but mysterious girl who visits the island now and then. I remember we met the second time I came to the island. We became friends after I helped her find this flower she came to see every year. Naomi says she wants to be an adventurer when she grows up, traveling all over the world, and I don't doubt she will be.

"Maybe she's attending this college too," I said, lost in thought.

Then there's Hugh. His dad's an athlete, so he, like his dad, loves to train, and he'd outrun you any day.

"I haven't seen him for a while, so I don't really know if he's still like that," I admited.

Lilly's quite the musical one. She lives with Nina, her grandmother. She's been playing the piano ever since I can remember. Perhaps you think she's a timid little girl. Well, you'd be surprised at how outgoing and smart she is.

"Wait," Janice stopped me, "She lives with her grandmother?"

"Yeah, her parents died in a car accident. She was born in the city, but since Nina's her only living relative, she moved to this island. She says she likes it here better, though."

We walked the rest of the way, me telling Janice about all the other natives, and her listening and commenting every now and then. Finally, we reached the college. I grinned. Janice's face showed nothing but awe and excitement. It looked just like I remembered, at least three stories high. The grounds flourished in greenery and tropical plants.

College Laguna...

I glanced at Janice; she was frozen to the spot. I took her hand.

"Ready?"

She grinned with a look of determination.

"Ready."

Author's Notes: I know, I know, I've been getting a lot of reviews that said Sora wasn't in it. Well Kairi isn't in this one! (Yeah, that's not good...) Well, just to let you guys know, Riku won't be around for a while, but he'll make a nice appearance, and he'll be the good guy-hero soon! I think... Thanks to everyone who helped me with my college problem! I think I have a better idea of what it's like. Yeah, this chapter was kinda crappy... But now, the real plot's starting! I think... This ended up being a whole lot longer than I intended, but that's good! Right?

Reviews:

classengurl: Glad you like this fiction so far! Thanks for your information on college classes! That really helped me. Oh, and I read your story! I sent you a review, so if you didn't receive it, notify me, and I'll send you another one, kk? Hope you liked this chapter! (I sure didn't)

Juzluvnsora: Hehe...maybe I'll make the plot go a lil' slower so you'll have to suffer! Mwahahahahaha!!!cough, choke, dies

madcow863: Hey, you're back! Yeah, it's fun messing with Lvkishugs, so yeah. Well, I don't know if what I'm planning's that unexpected, but it's cruel and evil! dies laughing

gssff: Really loved your review! Not many are that much fun nowadays. has no clue what she's talking about Okay, hope you like/find this chapter!

Lvkishugs: Whoops, I meant bolds. Hmm...Kairi fall in love with someone else? Hehe...you just gave me a great idea! Okay, don't worry; I'll keep going with Message in a Bottle.

Astaldotholwen: Writer's block? I can't believe a writer as talented as you have it!!! I don't think I'll ever have it...but then again, I'm still young, and have no idea what I'm saying... Don't worry; I'm stickin' with your fiction till the end!

aliasfan: Yeah, glad you like the descriptions, but seriously, what are the chances of her getting a house that nice?! Thanks for the college info! Summer vacation...is so close... Oh yeah, I reviewed one of your poems. Gotta check out the other ones soon!

HisLight: Glad you could relate to the last chapter! Thanks for your college info! Yeah...I kinda stole one of the verses from your poem... Sorry 'bout that, it's just that it makes so much sense, and it was kinda the last thing I read when I wrote that.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, as usual. Have a great Memorial Day everyone! (It's so hot here...)

-Ly