Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Disney and Square Enix.

Princess

Chapter 3: To Shop or Not to Shop

Morning found Selphie running around the house in search of Sora, who had breakfast duty but wasn't anywhere near the kitchen. Soon the only room she hadn't checked was Riku's, so she opened the door and looked in. She couldn't help but smile when she was Riku and Sora cuddled up on the bed together.

'It's about time.' She thought, pleased by the turn of events. 'I guess I can let him off the hook this time and cook breakfast myself.' With that thought, she closed the door and went back downstairs.

Once she was gone, Sora whispered, "Is she gone?"

Riku cracked open one eye to check and when he didn't see her he opened both eyes. "She's gone."

"Mmm… good." Sora murmured, snuggling up against Riku. "I don't want to make breakfast today."

"Lazy." Riku teased.

"It's your fault for having such a comfy bed. I knew you took both the good sleeping bags." Sora said.

"Then you'll have to sleep in here more often if you want the comfy bed." Riku said, rather liking the idea of Sora sleeping next to him every night. "Come on, lets get up before Selphie digs out her camera and comes up here to take a picture."

Sora groaned. "I still don't wanna get up."

"Too bad."

That was all the warning that Sora got before Riku ripped away the blankets and got up. Sora whimpered and curled into a ball before he glared up at Riku.

"You ass." He muttered.

Riku smirked. "You love it."

In response, Sora threw a moth-eaten pillow at Riku, managing to hit his butt. That prompted an all-out pillow fight, which Riku won by kissing Sora into submission.

Three days passed to find them all up early on a Saturday morning eating breakfast together. All three of them had the day off and they were going to get some grocery shopping done and spend the day hanging out.

"Here's the plan, guys." Selphie said, with the air of someone constructing a battle plan. "We're going to go out and get groceries first. We only want the necessities. No soda, Sora. And no chocolate, Riku."

Sora pouted in disappointment and Riku looked nonchalant.

"Then we'll come back here and put the groceries away and then go shopping for some nicer clothes." Selphie said. "Remember, we're not going to wear any of our new clothes until we get to Radiant Garden."

"Yes, mother." Riku said sarcastically, earning himself a glare. "I suppose you want to see the clothes we pick out too?"

"Of course." Selphie said. "Both of you have a poor sense of style. Unless handled tastefully, Riku, yellow and blue do not look good together. And Sora, no more red jumpsuits."

Sora stuck his tongue out at Selphie when she wasn't looking. Riku made a mental note to find as many yellow and blue things he possibly could.

"If we see Kairi, don't say anything to her unless she comes up to you." Selphie reminded. "We--"

"Sel, we know." Sora said. "We'll be careful."

The front door began to creak open before Selphie could formulate a reply, which startled the three teens. They were on their feet in a matter of seconds, ready to run if it was the town's authorities.

"Hello?" Kairi asked, stepping halfway into the hall. She sounded nervous and afraid.

"Kairi?" Selphie asked, her eyes wide. She hadn't expected Kairi to actually come out to the mansion to find them. Sora and Riku were surprised too. "What are you doing here
She didn't sound accusatory, just curious.

Kairi bit her bottom lip and took another step, trying to keep her nerves under control. "Pence convinced me to come. He said it'd be a good idea to hear you guys explain things."

"Really?" Selphie sounded confused. "But why would he say something like that? I thought your friends were convinced we're up to no good."

"I think I know why." Sora spoke up. "Is he the one with dark hair that wears the big red shirt?"

Kairi nodded.

"He came to talk to me the first day I was working." Sora explained. "He wanted to know why we think Kairi is the princess, so I explained it the best I could. I told him about the back of the photo too."

"Come join us and we'll explain things to you." Selphie said. "Would you like some breakfast?"

Kairi shook her head as she shut the door. Then she walked cautiously across the room and sat down a few feet away from them. "So you guys are really staying here? I didn't think you were serious."

"Cheapest place around." Riku said, self-consciously reaching out and pulling Sora closer to him. He got a smile and a light tap on the arm from the brunet.

"I have your locket in my room. Remind me to give it to you before you leave." Selphie said as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "So, what do you want to know? Should I tell you everything or do you already have an idea why we think you're the princess?"

"Start at the beginning." Kairi requested, drawing her knees up to her chest.

Selphie nodded. "This whole thing started about… five years ago when Sora and I were twelve and Riku had just turned thirteen. We were bored and Sora somehow got hold of my photo and started examining it. That's when we discovered there was something written on the back."

Flashback

Twelve-year-old Sora ran over to Selphie and Riku, calling their names excitedly. His hair was a darker brown and his eyes a lighter blue. Selphie's hair was shorter and didn't hold a curl at the end. Riku's hair was also shorter and appeared somewhat spiky.

"Guys! Look what I found!" Sora exclaimed upon reaching them.

The other two huddled around him and Sora pointed out the faint words written on the back of the photo. It took a moment for it to click in Selphie and Riku's minds.

"No way!" Selphie exclaimed, her eyes wide. "But I can't be the princess! I'm a servant's daughter, remember?" She gestured to the silver band on her upper arm for good measure.

"Maybe you knew her." Riku suggested. "And that's why you have her photo. Or maybe we're meant to go out and find her!"

Sora nodded eagerly. "Yeah, it could be our first big adventure! We always said we'd go on one some day."

"Could we maybe… look for our families too?" Selphie hesitantly suggested. "Since we'll be out there looking around anyway."

"Good idea." Sora agreed. "I wonder what my parents look like. Hey, do you think I have any brothers or sisters? I bet Riku has two older brothers who will pick on him!"

Riku rolls his eyes. "I bet you're an only child."

"I hope you have an evil stepmother!" Sora retorted.

"I bet you'll live with your grandparents."

"Oh yeah?! Well-"

End Flashback

"Their argument continued on for a while longer." Selphie remembered. "It actually evolved into biting and hair pulling. Them girls."

"We are not!" Sora protested.

Riku smirked and tugged on one of Sora's spikes. "I'm not, but you I'm not too sure about. You're short-"

"Am not." Sora muttered.

"You have pretty eyes-"

"That proves nothing."

Riku ran a finger down Sora's spine, making the younger boy shiver. "You're extremely sensitive."

"Don't do that." Sora muttered, smacking away Riku's hand.

"You're almost as curvy as Selphie."

Sora glared. Selphie tried to stifle a giggling, finding their bantering very amusing. Kairi looked torn between amusement and bewilderment, unsure of how to take the two's flirting.

"You spend an unholy amount of time in the shower." Riku continued. "You love the beach far more than any other person because you like watching the sun set over the water. You enjoy shopping. Need I go on?"

Sora continued to glare at Riku. "I hate you."

Riku smirked. "Love you too, honey."

"Ignore them." Selphie told Kairi, deciding it was time to get back to the original topic. "So, we found the message on the back and began making plans to get out of there and find the princess and our families. We left the orphanage when we were fourteen and took the first train out of there. We ended up in Olympus City and found we had to work some odd jobs to make munny. We ended up lying about our ages and managed to avoid going to school at the same time. We almost got caught a few times. Anyway, it wasn't until about a year and a half ago that we learned about the reward munny. We talked it over and decided to use it to find our families if we ever found the real princess. It was about that time that those two finally came out of the closet and started dating after years of flirting with each other." She chose to ignore the protests she got from the boys. "So then our main goal became finding the princess in order to find our families. So that's what we've been doing ever since." She paused a moment. "When's your birthday?"

Kairi shrugged. "I'm not completely sure. We think it's mid-spring."

Selphie tugged her wallet free from her pocket and carefully slid out the old picture and handed it to Kairi. "The photo is of a baby with dark hair and blue-colored eyes. The date-of-birth written on the back says April 21st. The photo was taken four months after she was born."

"What does that prove?" Kairi asked.

"When you add in the fact that you have the exact same picture in a locket, you were born in spring, and have auburn hair and bluish eyes, things start to point towards you being the princess."

"But I can't be!" Kairi exclaimed. She tried to think of some reason why she absolutely could not be the princess, but found nothing.

"There's a very good chance that you could be." Sora pointed out. "It's worth a try, right? And if it turns out you aren't the princess, then we'll personally escort you back here if you'd like."

"You have nothing to lose." Riku said. "We pay for everything, so you don't have to worry about munny. If any of your friends want to come along, then we'll pay for their way too. It'll just take a while longer to get there."

"I guess it's worth a shot." Kairi hesitantly said. "I want Pence to come with us."

"No problem." Selphie said immediately. That alone showed how much she wanted Kairi to come. She didn't want to give Kairi any excuse to change her mind.

"We're going shopping for food and then clothes." Sora said. "Do you want to come with us?"

Kairi shook her head. "No. I'm going to head back to the Usual Spot and talk to Pence."

Selphie quickly explained their shopping plan to Kairi and then added, "If you can join us later, that'd be great. You can bring Pence along too. I could use some help with getting those two some nice clothes. They go out of their way to ignore me lately."

The boys exchanged grins and then gave Selphie their best 'innocent' looks.

"I don't know who you think you're kidding." Selphie said. "'Cause it certainly isn't me." She stood up and dusted off her jeans. "We have shopping to do, boys! Lets get to it!"

The boys groaned good-naturedly.

"How about this?" Sora asked hopefully, holding up a bright red t-shirt.

"No." Selphie shot him down without looking over to see what he was holding. "You need something dark, but with bright colors. Something so uniquely you that there is no way we will find it here." With a sigh, she set aside the pair of jeans she was looking at. "Lets pay for Riku's pants and get out of here."

Riku looked in disgust at the pale, plain jeans that Selphie had picked out for him. "Do we have to?"

Selphie put her hands on her hips. "You have shot down every single pair of jeans that I have shown you. Exactly what is wrong with this pair?"

"They're uncomfortable."

Selphie threw her hands in the air with an exasperated sigh. "Fine! Put them back! I swear, the two of you are such girls!"

Riku happily laid the jeans on a random table and together the three of them walked out of the store and back onto the streets of Twilight Town.

"Now where are we going to go? Selphie asked, sounding annoyed. "We've been to every single clothing store in Twilight Town."

"Not every store." Riku informed her. "There's one called 'Final Fantasy' that I've heard about around town. It's suppose to have some unique clothes."

"It's worth a shot." Selphie said with a sigh. "Where is it?"

"I think it's this way." Riku said. He took Sora's hand and then began walking down the street. Selphie followed a short distance behind to give the two some space.

'They're lucky.' Selphie thought. 'They have each other to always count on and hold hands with and flirt and all that. It makes me feel… lonely. I know I can count on them when I need them; they are my brothers. It's just that I'm seventeen now and not once have I had a boyfriend. I guess that's the downside to living with two gay guys.'

Riku led them right up to the door of Final Fantasy without getting lost and Selphie quickly reminded them of their budget before they went in. Sora immediately got lost amongst the clothes and soon after, Riku did as well. Selphie let them be so she could get some shopping of her own done. She quickly found a cute yellow dress that she knew she had to have. She gathered up a few pairs of jeans and some shirts and a longer yellow sundress before going to hunt down the changing room. Along the way she bumped into Kairi and Pence.

"You made it!" She exclaimed happily. "Great! You can come tell me what you think of my clothes." Without waiting for a reply, she took Kairi by the arm and tugged her over to the changing room. Pence followed with an amused expression on his face.

Selphie tried on the shorter yellow dress first and came out and spun around once before looking at Kairi and Pence hopefully. "Cute, isn't it?" She asked.

Kairi nodded. "It looks good."

Pence looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "It's missing something…" He thought for another minute and then snapped his fingers. "I'll be right back!" He said as he hurried off into the aisles. He returned a few minutes later with a pair of brown sandals. "Here," He said, handing them to Selphie. "They'll go with your dress much better than the sneakers do. Plus, you can wear them with nearly anything."

Selphie looked surprised, but took the shoes and tried them on.

"Much better." Pence said, pleased.

"Well, I see now why Olette always takes you shopping with her." Kairi said. "You give good fashion advice. Pity Hayner never listens." She looked over at Selphie, who was looking herself over in the full-length mirror. "What's next?"

Selphie beamed, pleased to have someone who was interested in her clothes. She disappeared back into the changing room, coming out to show them every outfit and to get some advice. She managed to keep the price within her budget and was soon trying to convince Kairi to get at least two cute dresses for their trip to Radiant Garden. The redhead eventually caved under Pence and Selphie's prodding. When they dragged her back to the changing soon so she could try on a zippered pink dress and a longer white sundress with pink flowers climbing up the skirt, they came across Riku.

"Find anything to your liking?" Selphie asked.

In response, Riku held up a plastic bag. "I'm waiting for Sora. He was having trouble finding something, so I helped him out. Now he won't come out and show me." He raised his voice to tell Sora to come out so he could see.

"Give me a minute!" Sora yelled, sounding annoyed. "Did you have to pick out the one thing with the most buck- WHOA!" There was a loud 'thump' as Sora fell over and collided with the wall. A few minutes later he hobbled out with a scowl on his face.

"Wow, Sora that looks…" Selphie struggled to find the right word to describe how the clothes looked on him, but ended up with, "Great." Not believing that Riku managed to find something so uniquely Sora, she went over to the brunet and walked circles around him. She corrected a few unattached yellow belts and snapped one of the bright red pockets shut, but otherwise found nothing wrong. "I don't believe it. You managed to find something perfect for Sora." She told Riku.

Sora turned and looked in the mirror. "Really? I mean, it is really comfy."

Selphie sighed. "Why do I hear a 'but' coming up?"

"It's really dark." Sora said. "I'm not sure if I like the black."

"It looks fine." Riku said, walking over to straighten out the jacket. "Much better than the red." He kissed him on the cheek and then pushed him toward the changing room. He turned around to find the other three staring at him and fell back on the single most overused defensive line of, "What?"

"What happened to 'no public displays of affection'?" Selphie asked, sounding a little amused.

Riku shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Why? Am I bothering someone?" He looked pointedly at Pence, as if daring him to say something.

"Doesn't bother me." Pence said, meeting Riku's eyes. In truth, it bothered him a little, but not to the point of complete disgust. It was more of an uncomfortable feeling.

"Great." Selphie said, breaking up the tension. "Kairi, go try on those so we can see."

They heard another 'thump' from Sora's stall and Riku sighed.

"I'm going to go help him." He murmured before walking into the room and sneaking into Sora's stall. The others heard Sora ask Riku what he was doing before he fell silent.

"Riku, Sora, if you two do anything that will result in us getting kicked out, I will personally strangle both of you with my jump rope!" Selphie threatened.

"They wouldn't really, would they?" Kairi asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

Selphie shook her head. "They've only been back together for a little while. And anyway, they wouldn't do something like that in such a public place. Riku's barely comfortable with holding Sora's hand while we're out walking."

"Really?" Kairi asked. "I never would have guessed."

Selphie hummed and then prodded Kairi's shoulder. "Go try those on. We need to see if they fit." She waited until Kairi was in the dressing room before turning to face Pence. "Do you want to get anything?"

Pence shook his head. "I've got some nice things at home that I can wear." He paused for a minute or two. "So, you really think Kairi is the one?"

Selphie nodded. "Yeah, I really do."

End Chapter

A nice little fun chapter with a little background on how the Trio decided to set off on their adventure. And I love the RikuSora banter.

Next chapter things really get rolling and I'll be speeding things up a little. I also get to introduce a few more characters! (dances in joy) It'll be fun. Lots and lots and lots of fun.