Konohana, a Volcanic Duality

by AmaryllisMoth

Reconnect: Kingdom Hearts, unite all scattered worlds and rescue what is lost. Their journey is complete, but adjusting to their new reality leaves many struggles to be sorted. For there are many things yet left unsaid. Life at school may not be as action packed as they're used to, but it certainly can be troublesome. Does every beginning always signify an end?

5. Sora: Unexpected request

Under the water everything feels like it goes in slow motion. I floated around the bubbles, pushing out at some with my fingers as they passed. That's so neat that they don't really pop, just split into more tiny ones. I swiped my hand through a mass of them and watched them go all crazy. It was so nice and refreshing under here I wanted to hang out here just a little longer. It almost made me want to pack everything up and go chill at Atlantica for a day or two. Maybe Riku will finally go with me. There's no way he's going to want to change forms though, he hates that. But he's totally missing out! Breathing under water is-

-urk!

I struggled a bit and kicked myself up to the surface, pushing blindly against the foam to grab onto the edge of the boat. I felt something sturdy wrap around my wrist and yank me upwards and out of the water. I tumbled onto the boat, spluttering. Air! Fresh air! Some heavy smacks rained down across my back and I tried to fully cough it all out.

Phew, that was stupid. I almost forgot for a second that I wasn't actually at Atlantica yet. I took a full, deep breath and relaxed. That was a painful mistake.

"What happened? Sora? Hey, are you..." Riku knelt down in front of me, his face all stormy.

I managed to spit out a laugh, still coughing. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." I grinned broadly, hoping to clear up that worried haze in his eyes. "Really!"

He slumped his head forward. "What, did you forget how to swim? I was that close to jumping in after you."

"Uh, well...the water was so nice I...uh, just...f-forgot to..." Any sense of concern in his face was replaced with something much scarier and I winced, expecting him to clobber me.

But nothing came. I opened one eye slowly and saw him rigidly frowning back at me with that same grim expression he always has when he's upset.

"Sorry..."

Ow!

I rubbed at my head. I'm not even going to argue that one. But hey, there was at least one positive and I couldn't help but smile at it. "Were you really going to jump in after me?"

"Obviously."

Heh, not even a hesitation. He's so cool sometimes. I wonder if he would consider being a lifeguard, ever. Then he would get to sit on that awesome tall chair! I've always wanted to climb on one of those. Oh, and they have those megaphones that double as telescopes, too.

His eyebrow twitched at me. "Something funny?"

"Not really, just happy you've got my back even when I do something kinda...stupid."

He shook his head and sighed heavily but I could tell he was trying not to smile. "Just my luck I had to pick an idiot like you to be my best friend."

Riku compliments were often a bit harsh but it was always nice to get them. I joined him up on the side and looked out at the other sailboats dotting this part of the ocean. At least sailing club was pretty laid back about everything. All the other clubs were like "Hey! Mandatory practice every chance we get for at least two hours! And if you don't come we'll put a horde of angry bees in your school bag!". We just got a semi apathetic shrug from our club organizer and a simple "Hey, come if you want". I guess that's why we picked it. Nothing better than being able to drift around the ocean every now and again with Riku as my first mate. Because I'm always the captain. I don't care what he says.

I twisted my head around upside down, marveling at how strange the boats of our club mates looked this way, like they were sailing on the sky. I smiled, and chanced a peek back at Riku. There he was again, staring off into the distance miserably. I squinted my eyes at him. I've got an idea.

I pulled as weird a face as I could hold and started counting. Let's see how long it takes him to notice. One. Two. Three...Really, Riku? Five...six-

He shook his head, startled by my face, and finally laughed. How many days has he been like this? At least three now. I know he said he would talk to me about it when he was ready but...come on. I kicked my feet out over the side of the boat in frustration, forgetting that this would pitch us too far to one side. The sail bobbed and the boat reeled over, threatening to tip. Both of us quickly jumped up: me at the sail and Riku pulling at the rudder at the back. We caught the wind and wrapped the boat around, letting it settle back to a slow drift. At least I didn't fall in again.

Now that it looked like we weren't in a pinch, I plopped myself back down on the boat, this time on the opposite side to help with the weight distribution. He promised, so...it feels wrong to bring it up again. But I hate just sitting here watching him struggling with something. Gah! I rustled my hair in frustration.

A splash of water hit me in the face and I spluttered indignantly.

"What was that for?"

"Because you keep forgetting we're on a sailboat."

Yeah, yeah, earlier I had forgotten to keep an eye on the sail and it clipped me in the back of the head, knocking me over the edge. It didn't hurt too much, honestly, but I swear I wasn't just being stupid. I just couldn't stop checking up on him today because he's been extraordinarily broody.

I puffed out some air in frustration. "Well you're the one distracti-"

He tried to splash more water in my direction but I shifted to the side and retaliated. He couldn't let go of the rudder right now without the boat being twisted out of control so he took it right in the face. Ha! Ha! I am king! Uh...wait…

Riku furrowed his brow and charged at me, wrapping his arm tight under mine and pitching us both into the water. Commanderless, our boat twisted and flopped to the side.

I shoved him off underwater and surfaced, splashing in all directions, hoping some spray might get him. "It's a mutiny! Traitor!"

"For the last time I never agreed to let you be captain." He returned fire but I was flailing so much I couldn't quite tell what direction he was coming from.

"I won last time! And I asked to be captain!" I wasn't going to let this go, no way.

"You won last week. Today's different."

I stopped my assault and gestured over to the limp sailboat drifting away from us. "Fine! First one to the-"

He splashed me again in an attempt to get a head start and I immediately gave chase. I pulled myself through the water, trying not to focus too much on where he was just in case it distracted me again. I reached out with my hand to touch the edge of the boat and...YES!

I spun around in the water, searching for him. He was eyeing me from over at the collapsed sail.

"I won." We both shouted to the other, almost in unison.

"What!?" I smacked the boat hull with my hand and gestured sharply at it with the other. Excuse me? "What is this, then?"

"I touched the sail before you got there. And the sail is technically part of the boat."

"Well, yeah it's part of the boat. But that's not the boat. This is the boat."

"I don't recall you specifying only the hull."

"I...huh?" Didn't I? I concentrated hard, trying desperately to remember exactly what I had said earlier.

He laughed, at least hopefully forgetting his concerns for a while. "Come on, help me get this up."

We both started the same routine task of picking the ship up out of the ocean. It wasn't too hard alone, and certainly easy enough with two. Especially a great team like us.

Once we got the boat righted, we took our seats back on the sides. I shook out my hair, despite knowing that it would probably get wet in another minute or so. Riku shielded his face from the droplets.

"I seriously don't understand how your hair does that."

I pulled at the spikes that, while damp, were still distinct. "I dunno. Maybe I should become a hair model."

I did a ridiculous pose with my arms framing my face at first but then stopped and frowned. "...how does a hair model pose, exactly?"

Riku opened his mouth to speak but then his attention was caught by something just behind me towards the shore. He stared for a moment before pointing over to it. Come to think of it, I did pick up on some distant shouting...I turned over my shoulder to see Selphie going absolutely crazy jumping up and down on the docks waving her arms at us.

"Hey! Heeey! Heeeeeeeey!"

I wonder what she could want so badly. It's not like there was festival work today, this was like...the only day off for that stuff. We shrugged at each other and started steering the craft back towards the dock. I leaped off once we got close and caught the dock line Riku tossed over to me me. I looped it once around the mooring pole but before I could finish tying it off or grab the other dock line, a force started dragging me backwards.

"Wha-hey, Selphie, what are you-"

She continued yanking hard on my arm, almost painfully. "Sorry, Riku! I really need to borrow him for today."

"Wait, for what?" I stumbled behind her, barely managing to slip my sandals on. "Hold on, Riku and the boat-"

I spun back around to see Riku just waving me off with a shrug, continuing the mooring by himself. "Bring him back in one piece."

"Geez, Selphie what could be so important that you can't even let me help him first?"

"It's a really super duper important favor! Besides, you'll thank me later."

"Wha-? Can I at least grab my bag and get changed?"

She paused and glanced at me, maybe just noticing that I was only wearing my swimming trunks. Her eyes traced me up and down for a moment before she shook her head curtly and continued dragging me off the beach past the club locker room towards the road to school. "Nah, you look fine. Shirtless is always better with guys, anyway."

"W-What!? But where are we going!?"

Instead of leading me up to the school, thankfully, we took a sudden turn down towards the...tennis courts? Oh, no. I immediately dug in my heels and Selphie stumbled, unable to yank me forward.

She must have realized that I caught on and she stopped struggling to force me, instead putting her hands firmly on her hips. "We aren't there yet!"

"Can you at least tell me what this is about?"

She narrowed her eyes. "If I tell you, will you agree to come no matter what?"

I laughed hesitantly, remembering what Riku advised about agreeing to things too quickly. "Well you said it was important so I want to help you but I'm just really confused and-"

"Fine. Can I ask you one thing?"

I nodded.

"If you had the chance to take Kairi out on a date, would you?"

"D-date!?" I stammered, mind racing. My whole face burned but no matter where I tried to hide she kept following me with a look I couldn't quite place. I was spluttering out random words, unable to even string a sentence together. What did she mean by that? She must just be teasing me. Though I don't remember her being so insistent or serious about this stuff before.

She hummed. "Yeah, I thought so. Let's go pick her up."

"What!? I can't—you can't-"

I've never even thought about dates before. I mean what counts as a date? Dinner together or something? Or going to some event? Of course I'd love to spend more time with Kairi, I don't have to think twice about that. But, a date? I haven't prepared for this at all! I mean...not to mention I'm just standing here like an idiot in my swimsuit. This has to be a joke.

"Selphie..." I pleaded with my eyes.

She rolled hers. "Oh, relax. It's not actually a date, okay? It's just the two of you are the best pair I could think of to solve this really important problem of mine. And...well..." She sighed. "I'm sure you've noticed how stressed she is with things, right?"

I frowned. She really hasn't been herself at all. The whole day today especially she was being both incredibly clingy but distant at the same time, insisting on hovering close to me and Riku as much as possible, but never really saying anything. There's this...indescribable heaviness floating around her. Almost like she's been trying really hard not to cry.

"Yeah. It...hurts to see her like that."

"And you want to help make her happy, right?"

"Of course!"

"Then I need you to go with her on this errand and really take her mind off things. Just for a little bit. Be her assistant and help her out here and there. Okay? I'm really counting on you for this one. I know if anyone can cheer her up it's you. Just...ah...don't tell her that's why I'm sending you along." She still had this weirdly suspicious grin on her face like she wasn't telling me the whole truth.

"So...it's like a super special secret plan to give Kairi the best day ever?"

The corners of her mouth twitched. "Exactly! I'm so glad you understand."

Why did I get the feeling this was a trap? And why did she even bring up the stuff about a date if this wasn't related to that at all? Probably just to throw me off. Because I'm definitely still so confused...and still in a swimsuit.

"So...uh...wouldn't it still be better for me to get changed, then?"

"Absolutely not!"

"But-"

"Stop complaining and just come on!" She grabbed my arm and resumed steering me down the path to the courts.

It was a bit of an awkward walk, as I had to pass quite a few other students on the way. Most of them seemed in a really good mood when they passed us so I just smiled and waved back. Confidence is key, right? If it doesn't look like it bothers me, maybe people won't be as bothered by my getup, either.

As soon as we stepped onto the court my eyes immediately began searching for her. Her hair, like always, made her fairly easy to spot. She was chatting with one of the other girls in the club. Runa, I think. I guess they had just finished being sparring partners. ...People do "spar" in tennis, right? Kairi had her back to me and was reaching forward a bit over the net. Her skirt was also just slightly...well...uh...it looked good the way she was standing. I really liked that tennis uniform. From in the distance I could also just barely hear the sound of her laughter and everything around me started to feel incredibly, uncomfortably warm.

Selphie smacked my arm. "Aw, you're so cute. Kairi! Over here!"

I fidgeted, not sure where to put my hands as I watched Kairi spin around, catching her hair up by her ear. I bet she would be a really pretty dancer, too...

"Selphie! Um..." She waved quickly back to her friend and approached us, confused. "Why did you drag Sora here...in his swimsuit?" She looked me up and down and sighed, crossing her arms. "That's so mean! Everyone's over there snickering at him. Look at how red his face is, he's probably so embarrassed!"

I just laughed, trying to go along with it so I didn't have to explain I was probably only flushed because I had been staring too long at her legs. Ugh, that makes me sound like such a creep. "I-it's fine, she said it was really important, so..."

"Well. I'm glad to see you, despite your...lack of shirt." She quickly interjected and smiled at me. I noticed her eyes lingered for a second on my stomach. Did I have some seaweed stuck there or something? I checked, just to be sure, but didn't see anything. I wonder what she was looking at, then. When I checked back up, she was instead very carefully examining the tape on her racket. Must have been nothing.

Selphie looked really excited though for some reason. She was practically jumping back and forth. "Okay, so, Kairi I need a huge favor from you. I know this is like, the one day of the week you don't have festival work to deal with but I can't think anyone else who can do it."

Kairi had a rather distantly sad look in her eyes and I could tell she really didn't want to say yes, but knowing her she absolutely will. She gave her friend a weak smile.

"Sure. Just let me pack up my stuff first." She walked over to her gym bag and started gathering various gear, stuffing it haphazardly inside.

"Thanks so much, Kairi. See, I worked out a deal to get some flowers for the festival but I just don't have enough time or knowledge of flowers to know which ones to put on the order. And, well, since you do all that flower arranging in your free time..."

She listened silently, nodding along to the instructions as Selphie continued on.

"The florist is a bit far away, off the island but I think you know her? So...I figured you would be the best team for the job."

Kairi abruptly stopped zipping up her bag. "Team?"

I grinned over at her. "I'm coming too!"

Selphie nodded curtly. "Exactly. I figure it's always best to get both a girl's and boy's opinion so the displays have a wide appeal. Aaand on top of that Kairi, you've got the most knowledge of flowers out of everyone I know. You'll definitely know what's cute." She turned her eyes hesitantly in my direction. "And Sora you've got...arms."

"Sure do!" I brandished said arms grandly. Hero pose!

Kairi giggled and I saw not a single trace of that sadness from earlier. Great! Plan is already working!

Selphie sighed. "Yeah. If you need to bring anything back with you, like if our trellis is ready, let him handle it."

"Yeah! You've been working so hard but I haven't been able to do anything to help. So today I'll be your super special assistant!"

Kairi might have sighed, but I could tell she was happy. "Selphie, does this have something to do with-"

Selphie hugged her abruptly. "Take your time, okay?" She turned to me and rapped me on the head, lowering her voice. "And you'd better not mess this up."

I laughed. "I don't know too much about flowers but I'll do my best."

She pointed to me firmly. "Kairi, he's your assistant today so he had better do everything you tell him to, okay? If he doesn't let me know!"

Before Kairi could speak again, Selphie shoved a piece of paper into her hand and dashed off. "Have fun!"

We were left in a brief and somewhat awkward silence. I rubbed the back of my head, now feeling distinctly out of place among the other tennis club members while in this outfit. I gestured to my swimsuit with a laugh.

"So, uh, would it be alright if your assistant gets changed really fast?"

She tilted her head and looked me up and down with a smile. "Hmm...yeah, I suppose a swimsuit isn't a typical outfit for either assistant work or picking up flowers."

She pulled at the shirt of her own uniform. "I'll get changed out of this, too."

Oh. Darn.

I crossed my arms, thinking hard. "You know, we could both just go like this. It'd be kinda funny. We could drop in on Leon and try to convince him that we are coming from underwater tennis practice!"

She leaned in and flicked one of my bangs. "Good assistant rule one: no lying."

"Huh?"

She pointed to the note that Selphie had passed into her hands. It was some order details for the flowers written on polka dotted stationary. Below those was a list called 'Mandatory Good Assistant Rules'. Sure enough, the very first one listed was "no lying". Seriously? I hung my head. Would something like that even count as lying?

I relented. "Okay, okay, I guess the world isn't ready for the two greatest underwater tennis players."

"...Maybe the only ones?"

"Well, yeah, but that's the best part! We would win every game!" I cheered.

"Would we really have fun just playing against ourselves?"

"Won't know until we try." I mean...how could underwater tennis not be fun? I'm not exactly sure how it would be played but it still sounds fun.

She finished zipping up her gym bag and I quickly grabbed both it and her purse up before she could protest. "I'm supposed to use my arms today, right? Might as well start now."

She snatched her purse back. "Fine, but I'm carrying this at least. I can't have you looking too ridiculous. Anyway, let's just go get changed at home so we can wear something more casual out to pick these flowers up. I'm not too keen on wearing my school uniform or having to get changed twice."

I agreed and we started back towards our neighborhood. Hopefully Riku won't be too upset that I totally ditched him. I noticed she was lagging a bit behind me, her face clouded with daydreams.

"What'cha thinking about?"

A little startled, she shook her head. "Ah, o-oh. Just...um...trying to figure out how we could even play tennis underwater. Maybe it's impossible?"

I'm not sure if she was being entirely truthful about her thoughts, but I figured it would be better to just play it off. "Well...uh, it's easy! You just get someone to stand in the water and the other person gets up on their shoulders and you try to hit the ball over a net floating with some buoys or something."

"But if we are the only players, who are we hitting the ball to? Or does that not matter?"

"Maybe we have Riku on the other side? And if we hit him we get double points."

She put a finger to her chin, considering it. "We would have to find Riku a partner, to help defend him though. It wouldn't be fair otherwise."

I squinted hard in thought. "...Selphie…?"

I think we both tried to picture it together but once our eyes made contact we burst into laughter. That was a definite no. I adjusted her bag strap from slipping off my shoulder and then straightened, putting my hands behind my head so I could walk more relaxed.

"How was sailing today?" She glanced out over the waves down the hill where some boats still dotted the sea.

"Not bad. We sorted out some details about the next race but that's not for a while."

"How many times did you fall out?" She teased.

"Just once! Well, twice if you count when Riku pushed us both off."

"Hmm...I'll give you a pass on that second one, I suppose."

We continued walking along the coastal path, ducking now and again under a few of those big overhanging green leafy plants.

"Out of curiosity, what are the other rules I'm supposed to follow today?"

Kairi pulled the paper out and scanned it. "It has three here. Rule two is no complaining, and rule three says no fighting."

"Wait, no fighting? What if some bad guy tries to come steal you away? If I can't fight him I might lose you forever!" I laughed, but noticed Kairi had slowed her steps a little, staring at her shoes. I stopped and nudged her shoulder gently. "H-hey, don't worry, we already beat up all the bad guys, right?"

She half nodded, biting her lower lip.

"And even if one does show up, there's no way I'd-"

I nearly fell backwards in surprise but caught myself, feeling the softness of her face against my chest. H-hugging me. Kairi was hugging me. As much as I wanted to enjoy the feeling, I could tell she was trembling a little, like she was scared. Or worse, trying not to cry again.

"K-Kairi, hey, what's wrong? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said something like that."

She shook her head aggressively against me. "No, it's not that...I just...I've been thinking about so many things. And I don't want to lose you. Not again."

She squeezed me even tighter. So much so it was almost hard to breathe but I just did my best to hold her shoulders and ease her shaking. "Even if I go away somewhere you'll never lose me. We promised each other that before, right?"

"R-right..." She sniffed and pulled back slightly so she could wipe some tears from her eyes before they fell.

I kept my hands wrapped over her upper arms, not wanting to rush her but also not really wanting to let her go. She dropped her forehead against my chest once more and her hair so softly brushed against me. I started feeling that warm shivering feeling again and I gulped, trying really hard to suppress it back. Now definitely was not the time to be getting giddy over this, not when she needed help. It was just so much better, er...worse in this case, against my bare skin.

"I'm sorry. I know it doesn't really make sense..." She sighed, wiping at her eyes again.

I rubbed my thumbs lightly across her arms. "Well that's okay. I run into a ton of stuff every day that doesn't make sense but that doesn't bother me. I just want you to feel better."

She wrapped her arms around the back of my neck and I felt one of her fingers flick my hair. "I'm starting to. Sorry for being so strange all of a sudden."

I laughed. "I don't mind, really!"

"I still feel bad being a hassle..."

I noticed her mood falling again and decided to quickly try something else. "Hey, remember that time you were little and had some scary nightmare about eels? You kept crying every time me or Riku went into the water because you thought we would get eaten."

She blinked a bit, trying to recall. "Right...yeah...I do remember that! It was the peak of summer, super hot, but the two of you put up with me and helped me set up a little pool in the back yard instead. That was really sweet."

"I don't regret doing that at all, even though we got scolded pretty hard about wasting all that water."

"Yeah...my parents were pretty angry about it, weren't they?" She sighed, reflecting.

"I didn't mind helping you then, so of course I don't mind helping you now! I never like it when you're sad."

"Thanks..." Her body wasn't shaking as much as before, so I could tell she had calmed down a little.

"Anything else I can do? I am supposed to be your assistant after all."

She lifted her chin, smiling brightly up at me. "Just be yourself."

That was...a bit difficult at the moment. It was taking all my willpower to ignore her touch against my skin. I couldn't help but notice how close she was; how much I wanted to just close my eyes and lean that tiniest bit forward…

Such a small distance, yet such an endless space I wanted to linger. It wasn't enough, I wanted her closer. I wanted that pain of hers to go away. And if she was sad because she was worried about losing me, I want her to know that I am here. What's stopping me, anyway? Why not...just this once...

Almost like an automatic response, my hands, still holding her by the shoulders pulled her gently towards me. Everything but the thought of her melted away as I was surrounded by the smell of raspberry rose.

Stop. Stop, stop, stop. I kicked myself out of my stupor and abruptly froze in shrinking the distance between us. I can't do this. Especially not now. She's hurting and scared and I can't just ignore that to do what I want. She was still looking happily up at me, but I could tell she was starting to get a bit confused, probably wondering why I had suddenly gotten so quiet. I gave her the biggest smile I could, wrapped her in a huge hug, and spun her in a circle. She gasped, clutching at my neck tighter. I finished my circle and set her back down again. Laughing now, she released me with a playful smack on the shoulder.

"What was that for? You surprised me!"

"I dunno. Just felt like doing it." I shrugged and returned her smile. "After all, you did say I should be myself."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine if that's the way you want to be today you'd better prepare yourself for a surprise! I'll get you next and it's going to be good."

I hesitantly rubbed my head. "Uh...guess it's too late to take it back, then?"

"Far too late!" She started quickly making her way towards her house, leaving me standing slightly speechless in the road.

"Wait, seriously?"

She called out over her shoulder, but kept moving. "Seriously!"

I started trying to catch up to her but she picked up her pace, giggling.

"Kairi-"

"Begging won't help!"

I broke into a run and chased after her, until she finally came to a halt at the intersection that split the separate paths to our houses. She giggled again, requesting her gym bag back.

"I'll probably be slower to get changed than you so once you're done just come over to my house and we can head out from there, okay?"

I offered the bag over but held onto it tightly for a minute so she couldn't quite pull it away. "Just to check, you're telling me to go to my house, then go to yours?"

She tugged a bit on the bag strap. "Um...yes? Is that okay?"

"Sure thing! I will be at my house, then at yours!" I winked at her playfully. "I can't be lost if you know exactly where I am, right?"

Instead of taking the bag from me, she gently squeezed my hands first. "That's true. I'll see you soon?"

I released the bag to her and waved as I ran off.

A day alone with Kairi. A day alone without losing control of myself around her. This was going to be a challenge.

---

She was right, I was a bit faster at getting changed. I knocked on her door to find her mom, surprisingly. Normally her dad was the only one home because her mom would be off at the town hall doing...governmenty things. She stepped aside to let me in and wordlessly went back around the corner to the dining area. I slipped off my shoes and started making my way down the hall towards Kairi's room, but I heard her voice practically yell at me before I could reach the bottom of the steps.

"Oh, Sora! Wouldn't you much rather join me here at the table and wait?" I turned to look through the open door at her and froze. Geez those eyes were scary.

I glanced back and forth for a minute between her at the table and the stairs at the end of the hall. "Uh..."

I wasn't particularly sure why she wanted to hang out with me, but I felt like saying "no" was definitely the wrong answer. I somewhat reluctantly made my way over and lowered myself down into a chair. The silence in the room was suffocating.

She waited for me to take a seat, then just returned to scribbling away at some big dusty book. Why did she want me to sit here so badly if she wasn't even going to say anything? I frowned and tried to lean over to see what she was working on. She flicked those scary eyes back up and me and I instantly shrank against the back of my seat. Private stuff, got it.

"Is...uh...mayoring going well? I bet its busy for you too with the festival..."

She sighed deeply, removing her glasses to rub at her eyes for a moment. "Yes. My 'mayoring' is going well, thank you."

"Oh, great!" I smiled.

She just kept glaring at me. What did I even do?

"Kairi told me the other day she thinks you are mad at her. Any reason why?"

"Wha-?" Kairi thought I was mad at her? Why would she think something like that? Probably the last time I got upset with her was when she ate my last gummy egg in middle school…and that's just because she ended up not even liking it! Don't eat my gummy eggs if you aren't going to appreciate their gummi-ness. "I'm not ma—"

"I didn't think so." She smacked the big book closed so suddenly I jumped. "So then, tell me, is there something else going on?"

"Something...else?" What was she talking about?

She kept her steady gaze right on me and I shifted in my chair, really hoping Kairi would come downstairs soon.

"I don't know for sure. But I just have a sneaking suspicion something is changing between you two. Maybe not for the better."

Changing...? In a bad way? Does she think we are growing apart or something? Of course not! "Even if I was mad about something—w-which I'm not!-I would never forget how important she is to me. You don't have to worry about that!"

"Perhaps that is exactly where my concerns lie."

"H-huh?"

"...But I suppose I shouldn't begrudge dedication when it comes to things like this." She rolled her fingers across the tabletop.

"Uh...thanks...I guess?" I smiled nervously. As a kid her mom constantly confused me. I had hoped the older I got the less she would, but now it seems she's almost gotten worse.

Still, I wasn't too bothered about that now. If Kairi really did think I was upset about something, maybe that's why she has been getting teared up about things, lately. Maybe that's why she was crying back then, saying she didn't want to lose me. What could I have done to make her think something like that? I racked my brain but nothing unusual was really standing out. How am I supposed to prove to her I'm not mad if I don't even know what I did that made her think I was upset in the first place? Gah! It doesn't matter! I clenched my fists decisively. I'll just put in triple the effort now to make my secret mission today a success!

I gave her mom as reassuring a smile as I could muster, given the circumstances. "I'm glad you told me. I won't give up until she knows for sure that everything's okay!"

Her mom smiled back a little from over her folded fingers. "I suppose at the end of the day that's all that should matter."

"R-right!" I laughed happily. Her mom still didn't make a whole lot of sense but it seems we reached some kind of understanding. I think. Something about the way she was staring at me, though, just made me feel incredibly unsettled.

"Hey! Sorry for taking so long!"

Kairi entering the room dissipated all the tension, like just after a rainstorm on a hot summer day when the humidity goes down and it all feels nice and refreshing. I leapt out of my chair and darted over to her, hoping she could shield me.

"We'll try to make it back in decent time, but I'm not sure how complicated this flower order is." She gave her mom a quick hug from behind. "Don't worry about dinner today, either. I'll probably end up getting something there."

Her mom smiled, turning suspicious eyes on me. "Make sure it's something more substantial than sweets."

"Of course!" She waved goodbye and prodded me with a finger so I would follow her out the door. I gave a quick wave back to her mom, still with that look on her face.

"S-see you."

Once we exited the house I breathed a loud sigh of relief. Kairi turned to me suspiciously, smiling.

"Was my mom giving you a hard time again?"

"I don't even know...she just suddenly seemed to get upset once I tried to go up to-"

"She's just being protective. She knows we are good friends but you are...well, you know…"

No, I don't know. "What?"

"...A boy? She probably didn't want you going up to my room alone."

What? That wouldn't make any sense, would it? "But we've been alone in your room lots of times! I used to sleep over at least once a week!"

She giggled. "Yeah, when we were kids. It's...a little different now that we are older, don't you think?"

I frowned, crossing my arms. "Why should it be? I'm still me and you're still you."

She nodded. "I suppose that's true."

Realization struck me. "Right! And one other thing!" I spun and faced her, narrowing my eyes and leaning towards her in mock anger. "I'm supposed to be mad at you, huh?"

"E-eh?" Startled, she fell back a bit.

"Your mom was asking why I was mad at you, because you seemed to think so." I poked her playfully on the nose and smiled. "Well I'm not."

She fidgeted a bit and sighed. "It's hard to explain..."

I shrugged lightly. "Don't worry about it. I just wanted to let you know everything is still fine over here."

"I'm...glad. Thank you."

I returned to walking and kicked at a loose pebble. "I still don't get why I'm not allowed in your room anymore...wait! Does this mean no more camp outs in the tent? No more sleepovers? What else isn't allowed now?"

She sighed. "Think of it this way: if we had a sleepover alone and you told someone 'hey, I slept with Kairi last night!' don't you think that would probably be taken the wrong way?"

Oh. Right. That does sound…uh...I felt myself blushing a bit. "Well it wouldn't just be us two! Riku would be there, so I would make sure they knew I was sleeping with both of you at the same ti—I-I mean, uh...w-wait..."

I smacked my head with my hand as she giggled at me. I walked right into that one.

"See? It could cause some problems. But don't worry; while I respect my mom's decisions in her home, I'm not going to stop being together with you two. Alone or not."

I nodded. "Great! And I'll try to keep that in mind when I come over next time. I'm just not used to thinking like you're a girl."

She abruptly halted, her brow furrowed angrily. Oh no. Oooooh no. "W-wait, no, that's not what I meant!"

"Uh huh..." She put her hands on her hips.

"Obviously you're a girl! R-really obviously! Anyone would know that because your body is...g-girl...shaped..."

"Uh huh..."

...I hate myself. "N-no it's...to me you're Kairi! Your own special person! You know? Not just a girl...I-I mean it's different, right?"

She sighed and bopped me on the head. "You really need to think before you speak. I understand what you are trying to say, though, and it's sweet. In a...different sort of way."

I sagged, feeling like a deflated balloon.

She gave me a quick squeeze on the shoulder. "You're special to me too."

Grinning, I quickly tried to change subjects. "I assume you want to fly there? It will be faster than taking the ferry and trains out." I pointed up to where the ship would be hovering above.

She tipped her head, agreeing. We usually just shared the one but Riku had recently insisted on getting his own now that Cid's business re purposing all the unused gummi materials was catching on. It wasn't necessary to travel with them now, but with all the excess parts lying around why not use them for something. Besides, it really was faster.

"Great! All aboard to...uh...where, again?"

"Radiant Garden."

"Right!"

Kairi was definitely the best co-pilot. She always let me drive and was a sharp lookout. The best part was when she would sing to pass the time.

The trip was fairly uneventful, and soon we were already arriving in town. I knew Kairi had a very special attachment to this place, so I figured I would let her lead. That, and I have no idea where this flower shop is supposed to be.

"So, um...who is the flower person we are going to?"

She smiled and set off across the courtyard. "You'll see!"

She knew so many florists. Radiant Garden was basically every gardeners' dream. She went to visit all the time after all the worlds reconnected. Maybe because of the flowers but also maybe because it was where she was born and wandering around all the old streets triggered some of her lost memories now and again.

"Selphie said you were friends. Have I ever met them?"

"Hmm...I wonder?"

"Kairi! I'm really curious now!"

"Rule number two, Sora! No complaining!"

I sighed and followed along. It seems like every time I visit, the town has a completely different color because of all the different blooms. Or maybe I just don't pay enough attention to this stuff. I noticed in the fountains they had set up these neat lights so when the water shot up in all those fun patterns it looked like it was changing color too. They keep coming up with such cool new ideas!

I noticed that we were starting to head in the direction of Cid's shop and Tifa's bar. But the only flower shop that I knew in that direction was… "Oh! Is it Aerith!?"

She flicked my hair. "Took you long enough."

I dashed on ahead, skidding to a halt when I saw the familiar face of the most persistent ninja ever trying to jump me from the roof. She landed just ahead of me, bouncing around on her toes. "A-ha! I caught you in record time today."

I laughed and raised my arms in surrender. "How did you find us so fast this time?"

"They don't call me great for nothing!" Yuffie boasted proudly.

I nodded enthusiastically but she suddenly started to laugh.

"Nah, I'm just messing with you. Cid installed a thing he called a GTR. Stands for...what was it, again? Gummi Tracking Radio or Radar or something. It sets off a little signal when there's a ship coming to land, with a different tune programmed for each unique one it can recognize."

"A song?" My eyes lit up. "So I have a song!?"

"Well yeah, duh. That's how I-"

"Can I hear!?"

I felt myself being yanked backwards by my hood.

"Sora, we have something important to do now, remember?"

I teetered off balance. "Yeah, but-" Before I could complain, I bit my tongue. Rule two, I remember. There will be time later. "R-right! Got it!"

Yuffie glanced back and forth between the two of us. Her face looked confused for a moment then she started to snicker devilishly.

"You two are out alone today, huh? What's the occasion?"

Kairi pointed over to the flower shop a few doors down. "Just going to stop by Aerith's to do a favor for someone."

"That's all? He seems awfully well behaved for just that."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I frowned at her.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all! Have fuuun!" She skipped off somewhere in a hurry before I could get another word in edgewise.

Kairi, apparently not bothered by this, just kept heading straight for the flower shop. Man, I didn't realize this whole not complaining thing was going to be so hard to follow today.

As the door to the flower shop opened, it triggered the small jingle of a bell attached on a string hanging loosely over it. Aerith peeked her head out from behind a curtain in the back of the shop. She lit up when she saw us and dropped a bunch of some yellow flowers onto the counter as she floated out to meet us.

She rested a hand on each of our shoulders. "I'm so glad to see you both looking well. I guess you are the representatives for the committee I heard were coming today."

Kairi hummed. "Is this an alright time to discuss things?"

"Of course. Though, I do have to say I'm surprised to see Sora here. I never took him to be a...flower person."

Before I could answer, Kairi responded for me. "He's my officially appointed assistant for today."

"Oh, I see!" She laughed and indicated for us to follow her through another doorway into the greenhouse. I had seen the outside many times but had never actually gone inside and was almost floored by the sheer number of plants in all varieties.

"Whoa!" I ran over and gestured to some massive orange thing with petals all over the place. It was like...the size of my head. "What is this thing!?" I reached out to touch it when I heard my name being called sharply by both of the girls at the same time.

I turned and Kairi gently grabbed my hand away from the flower. "Sora, that's a type of Pereskia and it's pretty sharp so it's best not to handle it without protective gloves."

"Oh..." I didn't realize flowers of all things could be so dangerous. I backed up a bit.

Kairi giggled and whispered something to Aerith, who smiled as well. "I'm sorry about that Sora, I should have warned you. I keep quite a few exotic plants in here so maybe it's best to keep your hands close unless you know what you are dealing with. The tiger lilies are safe though, if you'd like to see them. They are-"

"Over here, right?" I pointed to the large lilies sticking out from around the corner. I approached and gave them a test smell. "Hey! These are really nice! Kairi, do you think we could use these?" I turned to see both of them staring at me strangely. "...what? No good?"

Let me guess: toxic fumes?

Aerith smiled. "Oh, it's not that. I think we are both only a little surprised that you were able to recognize them."

Kairi narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You definitely never knew any flowers before..."

Ah...looks like I got caught. I don't normally know much about flowers, that was for sure. But I knew they were really important to Kairi. She always made these really pretty arrangements with her club and I tried to appreciate them but she always had to explain the symbolism behind the types of flowers she used. Once she put a lot of effort into these ones she gifted to me and Riku. I liked the colors and it looked pretty, but she seemed a little sad when I said I couldn't name a single type of flower she had made it with. Riku couldn't either, but still. She had put a lot of work into finding four flowers specifically that each started with the same letters of our names. Mine was: snowdrops, an orchid, a...rhododenderda...rhodotron?, and some apple blossom. I felt a little bad I missed all that since she obviously put a lot of effort into not only finding flowers that matched each other, but that had the right letters. I decided after that I would try really hard to study at least a few basic flowers so I could appreciate her other arrangements, but...it's really, really hard. I had been hoping to surprise her with that the next time she made me one, but...I guess it can't be helped now.

"Yeah...um...I've been trying to learn a little. It's important to you and I felt bad neither me or Riku could enjoy the hobby with you so..."

Kairi rushed over to me and shoved my shoulder with a smile. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm still working on it."

"I could have helped you learn, you silly." She pointed over towards some of the other flowers in the room. "Do you recognize any others?"

I glanced over at Aerith, who was smiling quietly in the corner at me. She probably knows just about every flower in existence and now I had to prove I knew a few. I sighed. "Talk about pressure..."

"It's okay if you can't. I'm just curious." Kairi was looking far too eager for me to back out now.

I started pointing to the ones I could remember. "Well, over there are some violets? And that's definitely some kind of rose. It looks like there might be a bunch of orchids over there and um...that's a...hip biscuit?"

"Hibiscus." Kairi gently corrected. "We have a lot of those at home."

"Yeah, they're really pretty, too."

Aerith came over and trimmed one of the hibiscus flowers off, twisting it around something small in her hand and offering it over to Kairi. "Here, a little hair pin for you if you like. Sora, do you have a favorite flower?"

I laughed. "For my hair? No thanks."

She shook her head. "No, I'm just curious."

"I don't think I ever thought about it, sorry. I like a lot of them, especially lilies in general like calla's and amaryllis."

Kairi rubbed my hair. "I don't suppose you've also been secretly studying color combinations?"

"Uh..."

"Well, we can't ask for everything." Aerith smiled. "As far as the order goes, I have the flowers but we need to sort out which to group together for all of the different pieces."

I frowned. "I'm not sure how much I can help with that..."

Kairi leaned to look around my head at a small clock mounted on the wall. "Well, it might take us a while...Sora, how about you just take an hour or so to do what you like then you can come back and see if you like what we come up with?"

"That feels a little...unfair. Besides, what kind of assistant would just leave their...assisted...person?"

Kairi lead me towards the door. "What if I give you a job to do? Is that okay?"

I bobbed my head. "Anything you want!"

"I want you to...figure out what we will do for dinner tonight. Then..." She tilted her eyes up, thinking hard. "I'm ordering you to...treat a friend to ice cream! For at least an hour!"

"But…"

"Rule two!"

I laughed a little, giving her a salute. "Dinner and ice cream it is!" I gave Aerith a quick wave before heading out. "Good luck, thanks for helping us out!"

She returned my wave with a quiet smile.

I exited the store and checked around. Cid's place was already closed for the day, and Tifa's bar wouldn't be open now, either...I wonder where everyone would be right now. Maybe if I rushed I could figure out where Yuffie ran off to. I took a few steps back towards the fountain square when a voice behind me brought me to a halt.

"Yo! Finally found you! Heard you stopped in."

Hey, that makes things easy! I spun around to find Lea giving me a half wave from the street corner.

"Perfect timing! I needed to find somebody!"

A brief touch of panic brushed his face. "...is this work related? I might have just remembered I needed to be somewhere..."

"Sort of. Kairi just ordered me to take someone out to ice cream for an hour."

He laughed and put a hand on my shoulder, steering me back up the road towards the ice cream shop. "Now that's an order I can follow!"

"How did you know I was here, anyway?"

"Bumped into a certain Ms. Peppy Ninja. She also let me in on a little interesting tidbit." He elbowed me a little in the side with a smile. "Word is you are alone with a special someone. And shes already giving you orders now? Talk about being whipped..."

I ignored his jab and answered cheerily. "I'm her personal assistant for the day! But...it's actually a super secret mission to cheer her up."

He stared. "Right...maybe you'd better give me the long version for this. You said we have an hour? Plenty of time."

As we made our way to fetch the ice cream and find a place to eat I tried to explain a bit, realizing quickly it was hard to find where to start. I explained as much as I could about her behavior lately, the stress of the festival and then lastly about what her mom had told me earlier, and he listened without interrupting the whole time.

I dropped down on a courtyard ledge, dangling my feet over the step and Lea joined me. "So...I'd been a bit worried about her for a while before Selphie came up and said she needed me to help get Kairi's mind off of things. And...that's why we're here."

Lea chewed at his ice cream thoughtfully. "So, basically…she sent the two of you off, alone, on a cushy mission so you could spend some relaxing time together and she could get a little pampering?"

"I...guess, yeah."

"Right." He started to laugh and smacked me hard on the back.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Buddy, you got tricked into taking Kairi on a date. Congrats."

"It's not a date! Dates are like...uh, well, I dunno. Eating spaghetti under the moon or something?" I'm not sure where I got that visual from, but it certainly seemed kinda textbook romance.

"Nope. Wrong. It's just two people who like each other spending time together. That's all, really."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "That's way too simple! If that was the case then wouldn't we be on a date now?"

Lea choked a little in surprise. "Hey...I like you. But I don't like you."

"...You just used the same word twice."

He turned and gave me an are you serious right now look. "Of all the...okay, let me put things this way: I would take a hit for you, but...I wouldn't hit on you. Heh, that was actually pretty clever. Surprised myself, even."

I munched into my ice cream in frustration. "You hit me all the time, you just did a few seconds ago."

"Oh boy. Come on, work with me here. You're a feelings kinda guy so just do what you usually do and listen to that thing." He poked me in the chest.

I stared at my shoes, kicking against the wall. "Well, yeah. Kairi makes me feel..." She makes me feel different. Warm, maybe? I can't really explain what it is.

Obviously not bothered that I only gave half an answer, Lea pressed further. "And does anyone else make you feel that way?"

I paused. It was always different, being around Kairi. I mean, I always felt different around everyone. When I was with Riku I felt happy, comfortable, a little competitive, sure, but that warm, indescribable lightness...that was something that only belonged to her. And that feeling I had today when she was near me...I shook my head slowly. It was definitely different.

"Look, how I feel isn't really the problem. I know all that. The problem is that this isn't a date because Kairi would have to feel the same way about me, right?"

"...You really are dense with some things." He shook his head at me.

"You don't have to be rude." I grumbled, taking my last bite of ice cream.

"You don't think she likes you?"

I passed the wooden ice cream stick back and forth between my hands. "I don't know...how am I supposed to know that? She treats me just like how she treats Riku. Unless she likes us both?"

"If you aren't sure, you could always do...The Test." He winked, and I couldn't help but feel like I was walking into another trap again.

"...Test?"

"The Ultimate Test. To see if someone likes you."

My eyes widened. "You can do that!?"

"Sure. It's pretty simple. Step one is eye contact. Step two is closeness and step three is touch. Got it?" He lifted each of his fingers in turn, waving them in front of my face.

I nodded slowly, trying to remember.

"So, here's what you do. First, you look deep into her eyes. She might glance away for a moment. That's a pretty good sign. Otherwise, she might just hold her eyes on yours. That's also good."

"Um...so you're saying she could either look at me or not look at me and it means the same thing…?" I slumped my head forward. I don't think I'm even going to understand step one...

"Listen first, questions later." Lea ordered sternly, rapping my head with his finger to get me to look back up at him. "Next you want to get nice and close to her and see how she reacts. If she takes a step back, that's a no go. If she stays where she is, or better yet, closes the distance even more you're ready for the final step. Do you remember what it was?"

I shifted a bit, starting to feel myself get a bit flushed thinking about all of this. "Um...touch, right?"

"Exactly. If she lets you touch her, or if she reaches out and touches you, then all that's left is to make a move."

"I thought moving was step two?"

Lea groaned. "No, no, I mean you kiss her!"

"I can't do that!" My face was definitely red now.

"Why not? Don't you want to?"

"I...that's..." I smacked my palms over both of my eyes and fell backwards against the pavement. "Ugh...isn't there something more simple instead?"

"Sora, it's three steps. How can that be too hard?"

"It's Kairi, of course it's hard!"

I heard Lea snicker over something. I lifted one of my hands away to peek out at him, grumbling. "I'm not sure what's so funny..."

He grinned and prodded me in my side. "Just a stupid joke I won't bother you with since it'll probably go right over your head."

I rolled away from him. "Well I'm glad you're having fun."

He poked me again. "Aw, come on. I'll tell you what, I'll help you out here."

"Really!?" I rolled back around to face him.

"I'm a sucker for happy endings. Here's what you do: go get something portable for dinner, and head up to the top of the flower hill. Great view of the sunset from up there. I'll make sure it stays nice and private for a little bit. Then do...whatever comes naturally to you."

I sat up and jumped down off the wall in excitement. "That sounds amazing!"

Lea tapped me on the head with the side of his hand. "Yeah, yeah, I'm the best. But I'd better be getting a reward for the trouble. I don't work for free, you know."

I waved back at him quickly on my rush to the market. "Definitely! Thanks so much!"

Okay, now time to figure out what I am even going to get for dinner…I checked the time on the central clock tower fountain. Well, I managed to almost fill up the hour after all!

---

I don't know how they managed to work so fast, but these arrangements looked seriously awesome.

"I think they meet his approval." Aerith smiled and began taking copious notes, making sure to record the exact order details in a small floral notebook in her hands.

Kairi was standing by, looking rather pleased with herself.

I gestured to a cart that was sitting near the arrangements, assuming that was what we would use to transport them. "So, should we load these up here?"

Aerith shook her head. "No, these are just the samples for me to reference. I'll fix up the real ones for you the day before the event so your flowers will be nice and fresh."

"Will you need help moving them next week then?"

"Thank you for the offer, but I've got plenty of strong arms around here. I'm sure they will be willing to help out." She made a few final notes and set the notebook down.

"Leon's Flower Delivery?" I laughed and tried to picture it.

"Exactly."

I bounced a bit in excitement. "I hope he has to wear a really silly apron or something. Ooh! You could make it a musical flower gram and force him to si-"

"You shouldn't ask the impossible." Kairi leaned over and peeked into the bag I was holding. "And hopefully you didn't get just sweets for dinner today."

"Nope! Curry buns!" I held one up to show her, still wrapped in its paper. "Did you want one, Aerith? You've been working super hard, too."

She quickly refused. "I've already got plans for dinner tonight, unfortunately. You two go have fun."

I was a little disappointed I couldn't spend more time with her, but part of me was glad she turned my invitation down. Was that crummy of me? Kairi snatched the bag from me with a smile. "I assume you got plenty with chili mustard in them as well?"

Kairi had really interesting tastes sometimes. She definitely loved sweets, but when it came to spicy food she was the chili chomping master. Riku tried pranking us both once by putting some extra hot sauce in the chocolate pudding we were eating but she actually liked it. Maybe it's her red hair. I bet it gives her super heat absorbing powers. After all, Lea likes spicy stuff too. Either way, knowing her tastes were so varied I made sure to pick up a whole set of different kinds.

"Yep! I even got the cute ones with little bunny ears."

"Bun buns!" She giggled and started skipping for the door. "Thanks for all your hard work today, Aerith!"

"You as well!" She called out after us. There was something nicely pleasant about her smile. It was very encouraging.

I pointed over to the flower hill once we left the shop. "So, I was thinking, let's go up there. I...heard it was a nice place this time of day."

She followed, bouncing along happily. I guess things in the shop had gone rather well.

"So, Sora, who did you end up having ice cream with today?"

"Lea, actually! He found out we were in town from Yuffie and came over looking for us."

She tilted her head a bit, glancing at empty space around us. "Then...where is he now?"

"Uh...he said he had something to do..."

"I see..." She suddenly sprang forward, racing towards the flower covered hill up ahead of us. "Bet you can't catch me!"

What? No way was she going to beat me in a foot race! I chased after her, laughing, taking care to stay on the dirt path between the garden plots. They took their grass maintenance very seriously in this place.

She dodged past my first attempt to touch her back and she started skipping across some stepping stones in the flower field. Instead of taking the same route, I ran around the other side, jumping towards her at the exit. She giggled, trying to duck under my right arm but I wrapped my other one around her waist, pulling her back towards me. She stumbled, bumped into me and the two of us dropped, laughing into the grass by the fountain.

I snatched the bag of dinner back and let her roll off of me. "I'm gonna eat all the good ones now!"

"You'd better not!" She stuck her tongue out at me, withdrawing it when I handed her one of the buns. She unwrapped it carefully, admiring the sunset glowing in front of us. "You are right about the sunset up here. Lea told you?"

"Yeah." I bit into one of the buns and felt that rush of content I get when I eat something super yummy.

"I always liked coming up here. Even when I was little. Way back then. It looked a lot different in those days, though."

"You remembering any more of your past?"

"Bits and pieces, sometimes. Being back makes them surface a lot easier. For example, look over there by the castle wall. Do you see that small plaza?" I followed her finger over to where she was pointing and nodded. "That was actually the place I first met Aqua."

"Whoa! Really?" I still feel bad I don't really remember meeting her as a kid. She told me about it but...I can't recall it at all.

"I don't remember too much, honestly. But I can see the shadow of her face smiling down at me, telling me that when I'm in trouble my light will lead me to someone who will keep me safe."

"When you're in trouble?"

"Mm..." Kairi nodded, leaning her back against mine. "I think that's why I came to the islands. Maybe why I was able to meet you."

I breathed out slowly. "Wow...Aqua's pretty cool, isn't she?" I glanced over my shoulder at Kairi, but she was just staring silently out over the flowers as they swayed in the evening breeze.

"Sora...um...can I ask you something kind of private?"

"Sure."

She spluttered a little, laughing. "So fast! You're not worried it's something embarrassing?"

"Uh...is it?"

She bumped against me with her back. "Can't take it back now, you already agreed. Also remember rule one! No lying!"

I threw my hands up. "I won't lie! Promise! What is it you need to know?"

She nodded with determination. "Are you...happy the way things are?"

"...huh? Of course I'm happy! Does this face look unhappy to you?"

She pinched my cheek. "Not in the slightest."

"So..." I was hoping she would explain why she was asking such a straightforward question, but she just fell silent again, munching her dinner slowly. "Was that all you needed to ask? You still look like you're considering something."

"I am. I'm just not sure how to say it."

"With this." I reached out and gently pulled her chin up and down, moving her mouth. She shoved my hand off with a laugh.

"You goof, stop it! I just feel a little bad asking about this because of what happened the other day. Do you remember when I chewed Riku out about trying to spy on me with Irvine?"

"Yeah, I still think you let him off too easy."

"You think so?" She paused and fell silent again, tapping the tops of her shoes together.

I wasn't sure what she was hesitant to ask me about, but it was clear she was feeling guilty about prying into my life when she steadfastly refused to let either of us do the same. Maybe she felt hypocritical about it, but I honestly don't really care about most of that stuff. I don't really have a reason to hide anything. Well...there's maybe one thing. But there's no way she's going to ask about that, right?

"Kairi, I think everybody is allowed to have different things they are comfortable sharing. So...it's okay for you to want to keep more stuff private. But I don't mind sharing, so you can ask me what you want."

She snuggled back against me and I shivered. "...I've just been thinking a lot about when we get older. Eventually the three of us might have to deal with dating, falling in love, maybe getting married, starting families...all that stuff. And who knows who we might end up with. Do you ever think about that?"

"I dunno, maybe every now and again. I mean, it's a little weird sometimes if I think about Riku getting a girlfriend or something..."

"Exactly!" Kairi sighed and played with a nearby flower with her free hand. "Did...did you ever think about what kind of person you would want to be with? About...what you would do if someone asked you out?"

I nearly choked on my bun and had to swallow hard, tears springing to my eyes. She rushed to help, offering me a bottled water from the bag. I waved her off, wiping my eyes down.

She waited for me to stop coughing and apologized. "I'm sorry for prying. It's just...been on my mind lately."

I shook my head. "N-no, it's fine. I, uh..."

Well this was certainly a problem. I'm not just going to go confess that ever since I was like...six years old I was already having fantasies of holding her hand.

She gave me a little grin. "Oh, come on! I told you about my ideal guy. You can't just hold out on me!"

I tilted my head back and forth, groaning a little, trying to figure out how to put any of these thoughts into words. "Well...I don't really have anything specific thought out like you did. You know how I am about planning things."

"Hmm...I guess that's true. So if the one shows up you'd probably know right away." She teased me.

"Yeah..." She really had no idea just how right she was about that.

She turned her face away for a moment, staring at a distant fountain. "Has anyone ever told you they liked you?"

I burst out laughing. "Yeah, Riku in his sleep once when he was getting over a cold and had too much medicine."

She spun back around and gave me a face. "Ugh, that doesn't count! He was saying that to everything, including to that wolf stuffed animal I made him, and to the face of the character you had on your socks at the time..."

Mr. Super Squid! But yeah, I was definitely dodging the issue. "If you mean a girl, then...I don't think so."

"You don't think so?"

"I can't be sure. Riku says I miss a lot of things so maybe it happened and I didn't know."

She sighed. "That's fair, I suppose. But I'm glad."

...what? "Uh...you're glad? Why?"

I noticed she suddenly started fidgeting with her skirt, and took a huge bite of food so I had to wait for her to chew and swallow before she could answer. Maybe she was hoping I would forget about what she said, but I kept my eyes drilled into her, waiting for her to respond.

"I...it's...irrational. Maybe I'm just worried that if you get a girlfriend, then...you'd change." She sounded so...sad. Well this was definitely not the way to cheer her up!

I reached over and tickled the back of her neck. She cringed, trying to squirm away from my finger. "Kairi, I'm always going to be me. Especially today! I got a direct order to 'be myself,' didn't I?"

I stopped the tickles and let her settle back down next to me. "I suppose so."

There was a silence between us, the only noise coming from the nearby fountains creating dancing shapes with their jet streams. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against my shoulder. "You're so comfortable. If you do find a girlfriend I hope she appreciates this."

Before I could respond, she stood up and dusted off her skirt, strolling over to the edge of one of the flower fields. I grabbed another bun out of the bag and went over to join her. She turned and saw the bun I was munching on, eyes narrowed.

"You wouldn't happen to know where the last of the honey buns are, do you?"

"Uhh..."

She snatched it out of my hands and stuffed it into her own mouth.

"Hey! I was eating that! Besides, that was..." I hesitated a little, realizing that I had already taken a bite out of it. It was like some kind of weird indirect kiss with food. Does that count as anything?

"It's mine, now!" She chewed it with a pleased look on her face. She knows how I feel when someone poaches my food! It's just not right to do that. Absolutely the lowest of the low. "That's my revenge for earlier when you surprised me."

"Oh, is it? You know what that means though, don't you?" I went stealthily over towards one of the sprinklers watering out over some of the flowers. "It's war!" I stuck my shoe into the water stream, angling it towards her.

She stumbled backwards with a laugh, blocking her face. "Really? A water fight? You picked the wrong girl to get into a water fight with!"

She reached behind her and grabbed up a whole scoop out of the fountain, tossing it at me and bolting the other way. I hastily threw my jacket over to the side over the leftover food bag to cover it and returned chase. She tried to put the fountain between us, so she could angle the jets at me, but that only left her open for me to do the same. I reached down into the water and twisted it towards her. She yelped and threw her hands up in front of her face, her magic freezing the water solid.

"Oh come on, using magic is cheating!" I complained loudly enough for her to hear.

"It's not cheating if there are no rules!"

I felt something dripping on my shoulder and looked up, just in time to see a massive magic bubble of water hovering over my head bursting, raining down on top of me. Okay, that one was absolutely cheating! And if she was going to play dirty then so am I!

---

After only a few minutes the both of us were properly soaking wet, lying on the side of the grassy hill. The sunset was getting very low in the sky now, allowing some of the light of stars to peek through. She lay close next to me, her wet hair sticking to my arm.

"I guess you shouldn't have changed out of your swimsuit after all."

I shrugged. "Yeah...but then that wouldn't be very fair, would it? Because I'm not a cheater."

"Yeah, sure. I remember a certain someone who had the bad habit of squirreling away all the tokens when we played Monkey Tree..."

"Monkey Tree is serious business!" I used to love that game, haven't thought about it in years. Once I get home I'm going to see if I can dig it out so we can play the ultimate rematch. But before that, I had to finish these assisting duties properly. I frowned a little when I reflected on the three rules. "...Sorry I ended up being a bad assistant today."

"Psht! Why would you say that?" She prodded me jovially in the side.

"Rule three? No fighting? I did kind of start that water battle."

"Mm...I suppose..." She pulled the rule paper back out, now a little worse for wear, and carefully tore the very bottom of it off. "Oops! Looks like I was mistaken this whole time, Sora. Only two rules. And you didn't break a single one."

I chuckled and reached up into the air, tracing lines among some of the stars standing out even brighter than before. Something was still nagging me about the conversation we had before. "Kairi, did someone ask about me? ...A girl? Is that why you brought all that stuff up earlier?"

She sat up, squeezed out some water from her hair and flicked me in the face with it. Blargh, talk about a cheap shot!

"Maybe, maybe not. That's girl-to-girl confidentiality!" She was smiling at me, but I could tell she had a little bit of sadness lingering deep in her eyes. I wanted to wrap her up in my arms again, just like before. To keep her safe and laughing like she should be. Yet even when she was sad, she was still indescribably beautiful. I felt that pull, that incredible urge to get closer to her. It was getting harder and harder to resist, the longer she looked at me...

Ignoring everything that screamed at me not to, I sat up, wrapped my arms around her and yanked her back down on top of me. She fell against my chest, gasping out in surprise. Her hand clenched my shirt and I could feel her trembling slightly. Maybe she was getting a little cold from the water now that evening was closing in.

"S-Sora...w-what are you…?"

"I just want you to know, even if I do get a girlfriend I won't ever leave you behind. Ever."

Her body felt so warm against my wet clothes. I felt her breath, soft and sweet against me. The longer we lingered like this, the more her trembling lessened as the closeness of our bodies melted the cold away.

"If only it were that simple." She turned her eyes away.

Not going to give up until I saw her smile again, I brushed one of my hands against the side of her face, releasing my grip on her back. "Hey, I'm serious! That's the one condition I know for sure: she would have to accept my friends, each and every one."

She pulled herself up off of my chest and rustled my hair, still leaning over me. "Anything else?"

"She has to like sweets!"

Kairi hummed pensively. "But if she doesn't, there will be more for you."

"Oh...good point..."

"Do you ever think things through?" She scoffed, but I chose to let that little dig slide.

"I also got another one—she has to always tell me just how much cooler I am than Riku. Every day."

"Oh, but they say honesty is best in relationships, you know." She gave me a sly grin.

"Geez, way to hurt a guy..."

She gave me a loving little rap on the shoulder. "You two excel in your own areas, I'll just leave it at that."

"Nice and fair. Just like always." I sighed.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. If you must know. Riku is more calm, and definitely better at using his head to plan things. But that doesn't mean your way of following your heart is wrong."

I laughed. "I guess so." It has certainly served me well so far, though Riku says I still need to work on my impulsiveness.

I was starting to regret bringing this up again, because her face once more was awash with agitation. I tilted my head at her, hoping she would explain.

"I wish I had that ability of yours. Sometimes I wonder what my heart is trying to tell me. It can be so hard to translate. Especially now..." She fiddled with her hands, and started idly flicking at the zipper on my jacket lying next to her on the grass.

"Just don't overthink it." I shrugged. I wished I could offer better advice, but it was almost like trying to explain to someone how to breathe. Understanding that stuff just kinda...worked out for me somehow.

She prodded me again. "Maybe...but not thinking ahead could get you into a world of trouble, you know!" I wasn't quite sure where she was going with this, but something nefarious was lurking in her eyes. "You agreed so easily to do whatever I say today. I could ask you to do something crazy, like the first thing that pops into my head, and you'd have to do it. Right?"

I gave her a nervous smile and held up a hand. "Well...I can't complain about anything, so..." I tried sitting up, but she shoved me back down to the grass and leaned down, refusing to get off of me.

"You accept things way too quickly for your own good. I mean, what if I ordered you to do something really weird."

Well, sure she could. But it's Kairi. What's the worst that she could do? "Is this a challenge? What weird thing would you even tell me to do?"

Her eyes locked with mine and I noticed she was suddenly a lot closer than before. The fingers on her left hand brushed lightly against the side of my face. Her breath heating my nose just under hers. Everything suddenly felt so heavy and I couldn't move. It was like she was frozen only a few centimeters from me, staring unblinkingly into my eyes. My mind screamed for me to just lift my head or pull her down across that space. My heart fluttered rapidly in my chest and I gazed back.

Almost breathlessly she sighed. "Kiss me."

"Ka..." K-kiss...? W-what? I must have misheard her. There's no way she...

But she didn't move away from me. If anything, it seemed like she was only waiting for me to say it was okay. And I wanted to. I wanted to so, so badly. My hand wrapped around her upper arm, trembling. I couldn't stand this tension anymore. My pulse was racing, trying to remember all the advice I had been given, but everything in my mind was muddled and just screaming her name.

As gently as I could, I pulled her upper body towards me. My eyes slowly started to close when I felt her stiffen a little under my grip. She puffed a huge burst of air out into my face and giggled.

"You silly! You don't actually have to."

"H-huh?" Well that was humiliating. I felt a horrible twisting in my stomach and I averted my eyes, staring instead at a small damp blade of grass, struggling to shrug off the water bearing down on it. I bet my face was burning red right now. Fantastic.

She sighed and lifted herself up from me slightly, smacking herself lightly in the head. "I have no idea where that thought even came from. It was a stupid thing to joke about, I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable."

I reached up and grabbed her wrist to stop her from bopping her own head. "No, I was just...surprised."

Her smile returned. "Yeah, I could tell. But I guess I should say thank you, for taking what I say so seriously. It was very kind of you to even consider it, rather than just laugh at the suggestion right away."

Ouch. I guess it didn't even cross her mind that maybe I was doing it because I wanted to. "Well, I made a promise. That's the most serious of all serious things. It doesn't matter what you ask me to do, I'd give it my best shot if I thought it would make you happy."

I think I caught sight of her blushing for a split second before she turned her head away from me to play with her hair. "You really are something else sometimes...I can't believe you're so amazingly dedicated to this. But that's why you should be more careful about accepting things in the first place!"

"Maybe, but I really do mean it! And that's not exclusive to today, either. Any time. Even if you told me to go do skateboard tricks off the top of the tram in a penguin suit."

She pursed her lips at me. "Oh come on, you shouldn't have to put up with that kind of torment. If I ever get that demanding I want you to knock some sense into me."

I laughed. "I will, in the nicest way possible. But the way I see it, compared to a favor like that, just asking me to kiss you isn't so bad." More than not bad. Ugh...why was it so hard for me to just come out and say 'hey, no, actually I really do want to do that?' I still can't tell if she was only kidding or...maybe she actually did want to kiss me and chickened out at the last minute.

She hummed a little, her face still turned away from me. "...Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"Could I ask you for another favor? A real one this time?"

I tipped my head back and forth. "So long as it doesn't have to do with trams, skateboards or penguins."

"Close your eyes." She requested softly and I complied without hesitation.

I lay there, in the dark, feeling the heat of her body, the thumping of her heart against mine as she suddenly lay down across me, hugging me tightly. In the silence, as I waited, I heard a light sniff and felt some water droplets hit my cheek. Was she...crying…?

"You're...warm."

"K-Kairi, can-" She moved to press her finger against my lips and I froze, wondering what I could do, wondering what was even happening.

After what felt like the longest pause, she lifted herself up off of me. "I'm sorry...you can open your eyes now."

I did so quickly, but only saw her sitting next to me, smiling lightly. "What...was that about?"

"I'm just...glad you're here. Glad that you're you."

I sat up and crossed my arms, feeling incredibly confused and a bit frustrated to be honest. "I know I'm not supposed to complain right now but Kairi, seriously, that was really weird. What were you doing?"

She tried to avoid my eyes. "Nothing..."

"I know you were crying. Just because my eyes are closed doesn't mean I can't tell something like that..."

"I...didn't want you to see. I know you hate seeing me cry, so..."

"That doesn't mean I want you to hide it from me!" I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, drawing her back close to me.

"I didn't want you to think it was something you did..."

I took a deep breath. All I think is that there is something going on way beyond just festival stress. "Okay, time to come clean. What has been going on in there?" I tried to give her a reassuring smile, tapping her heart.

She bit her lower lip and shrank down a bit. "So many things...but mostly I'm just petrified about all the changes I see looming over the horizon."

I pulled her into another hug. "There is a lot changing, but we'll pull through!"

She sighed into me, and I could feel her choking back another set of tears. "It's not just that...it's...I didn't want to worry you about it, but it's starting to be too much for me to handle." She paused, her fist clenching slowly. "...He's been following me. Incessantly."

I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from me slightly so I could look into her eyes. "He, who? Kairi, if someone's bothering you I'll make sure they stop."

She traced lines along the sides of her shoes. "I knew you would feel that way. That's why I just wanted to deal with it myself. But this morning I saw him outside my window and-"

"What!?" I felt burning hot anger bubbling up inside. Whoever this guy was he was definitely not getting out of this without a really good excuse. "Has he hurt you?"

"No! Nothing like that...I just keep noticing him following me all the time, now. He never does anything, just watches me. Every time I'm away from you two, I notice him there. And every time I try to talk to him about it he just spits out some empty threats and runs off. I can't figure out what he wants, but it's really starting to get to me. Especially because of...the way he is..."

I felt something cold in the pit of my stomach. "...it's that guy, isn't it…?"

She nodded slowly, eyes still downcast. I don't know what Vanitas would want with Kairi either, but I wasn't about to let him just keep harassing her. I felt terrible for not noticing it earlier. That explains why she was so worried about me, and probably why she was acting a bit strange before. If he is targeting us, something bad could be looming just behind. It's not fair that a jerk like that, with my face...

I stood up, offering her my hand to help her to her feet. "Come sleep with me tonight."

"E-eh!?" She staggered back in surprise.

I shook the redness off my face quickly. "N-not like that! Stay at my house. He won't bother you if you're with me."

She thought about it, but slowly wilted. "I can't...he hasn't actually done anything, but I'd be worried about leaving my parents alone if he thinks I'm supposed to be there. My mom might be fiery but she can't fight like we can. I don't want to lose them..."

"Then, I'll come stay with you!"

"You can't, my mom would never-"

"She would understand! I'll just stay on the floor in the toy room, or even in the closet if that makes her feel better."

Kairi ruffled my hair. "Sora, you know that would never work. Besides, if he tries anything I can fight him off just fine. This is why I didn't want to say anything. I don't need you to be my knight, I'm just getting... emotionally overwhelmed a little."

I sagged. I wish there was more I could do for her…

The evening air was getting a lot cooler now, and I noticed she was starting to shiver a little because of our wet clothes. "Oh! Hang on a minute." I lifted up my jacket, offering it to her to put on.

"Are you sure? It will get wet..."

"Everything else is already wet, what's the harm?"

She thanked me and hung it over her shoulders, pausing and looking at the last rays of the sun. "...I suppose we should head back before it gets too late..."

"Listen, Kairi, I know you have a lot on your plate right now, so...I'm going to go visit Ven and the others at the castle. They might know what's going on. I'll take you home then head out there right away. And...I know you don't want someone guarding you but until I get back I'm going to make sure Riku keeps that guy far away."

"Sora..."

"I'm not doubting your ability to take care of yourself! I just think you deserve to have some quiet relaxing time, too! And Riku is like, the best bodyguard ever!"

She was trying really hard to give me a stern look this whole time but she completely cracked and smiled. "When you have your heart set on something it's pretty much impossible to talk you down. And I definitely don't want Riku skulking around me in the shadows all day trying to stay out of sight."

She wrapped her arm gently around mine. "I also probably shouldn't be complaining that I have someone like you who wants to keep me safe. It's a pretty high compliment."

"Sorry...I can't help it..."

"I guess it's only fair. I was trying to do the same thing in my own way. Protect you. And I'm still worried, but...we really are all stronger together." She pulled on my arm, leading me back towards the ship.

As we walked, I noticed the streets oddly empty and wondered exactly what Lea had done to shoo everyone away. Kairi noticed as well, and she scanned the area a bit in confusion. "You know, I'm a little surprised there was no one else out here tonight. It's usually quite busy..."

"Yeah...kinda weird..." I stuttered a little, catching sight of a hastily scribbled sign shoved up against the wall that read 'Super horrible, dangerous demon monster sighted. It'll eat you. Already consumed two friends of mine. Clear area until further notice.' I side stepped around to block Kairi's view of it, surprised something that crude would even work. But I guess it did, so I shouldn't really complain about it. I definitely needed to give Lea a pretty big thank you.

---

We made it back to the islands, both still a little damp, both still a little anxious, but for the most part I think it was just nice for us both to be with each other. I paused with her just outside her front gate. I really didn't want her to let go of me. Thankfully, Vanitas seemed to be staying far away because I couldn't sense a thing.

She rolled her fingers along my arm and sighed, biting her lip. "Well, kind sir, I appreciate the escort home...but..."

"Yeah..."

Slowly extracting herself she then started to remove my jacket from her shoulders. I stopped her. "If you don't mind, could you just keep it until I get back? I know it's stupid but maybe it'll keep you safe or something..."

She tucked her hair behind her ear and nodded. "Of course. I'll make sure it comes back smelling all nice and rosy, too!"

Even her teasing was adorable sometimes. I stood there awkwardly, not really wanting to say goodbye either. I figured after this I'll have to go run over to Riku's house and give him the news, then fly out to the castle...blargh its going to be a long night.

"...Sora?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks for today, really. I don't know how you always manage to do it, but I feel so much better. Let me know right away when you come back, okay?" She waved and started heading towards her door.

I clenched my fist. I'm not just going to give up this time! There was no way I was going to leave without doing this first. I called out to her and she turned back to me immediately, a smile lingering on her face. I reached out to adjust the slightly worn hibiscus flower pin in her hair. She looked a little confused, but smiled, leaning her face a little into my hand as it lingered at the side of her face.

"Oh...than-"

Any inhibition I had melted at the sight of her face, so bright and hopeful. I closed my eyes, leaned forward, and pressed my lips against her cheek. She trembled, frozen stiff as I kissed her. It was maybe only a second or two, but I had never felt so free and warm and wonderfully, absolutely at peace. I pulled back and laughed, giving her a wave.

"Joke or no joke, you told me to, so I couldn't break my promise! No more tears tonight, okay?"

She was still staring wide-eyed back at me, stunned, but that growing smile on her face was all I needed to see. I ran straight towards Riku's house, feeling like I could fly the whole way there. Sure, I had chickened out and couldn't really go for the full thing properly, but I didn't regret a second of my choice. She was soft, sweet, with just the lightest hint of tartness. Perfect.

I cheered and spun around in circles down the road until I felt dizzy. I still don't know if today was a date or not, but it didn't matter to me one bit.