Well, I'm glad that you guys enjoyed the last one, so I'm going to give you my last update for the summer. I hope that you'll enjoy it too.

Disclaimer: You know what, Kairi, why don't you do this one?

(Kairi turns her head away stubbornly)

Shire: "Kairi… I'm waiting."

Kairi: "No."

Shire: "Kairi…"

Kairi: "You made me take a frozen road hockey ball to the face! That fricking hurt Shire!"

Shire: "Kairi…"

Kairi: (Grunting) "Fine. Shire Folk doesn't own me. There, that's all you're getting out of me, now go on and laugh at my expense for your own amusement."

-A-D-

Garden of Snow and Ice

Not As Easy As It Looks

Eating breakfast Thursday morning, Kairi watched highlights of the Kings' game she had gone to the previous night. Deciding against dining in her own dining room, she was eating her bowl of cereal in the company of some of the servants of the castle in the same common room where she had witnessed the news report of her snowball fight and snow castle.

"I could do that," she declared suddenly. The servants, the tiny baby digimon Minyamon on her shoulder, and the tiny flaming dragon Plato perched on her raspberry beret, all looked at her inquisitively. Some of the servants didn't really appear like they wanted to speak, considering that what they had just watched was a replay of Kings' defenseman Howard Maags blasting a shot through the screen to enter Ravens' goalie Belfour's net just underneath his left arm to score the game winning goal with a final score of 3-1.

One gathered the audacity to reply with sarcasm. "Yeah, I'm sure you could Your Highness," said Arnold, one of the male servants. "I'm sure you could score on a professional goalie who has spent his life honing his skills."

The other servants all looked at him in shock, as if he'd just asked to be fired. Kairi only laughed though, easing their worries. "No, not that. I mean skating."

They all gave her blank looks for a moment. "What? Skating?" Kensworth asked, glancing down at Kairi as she sat on the couch with her bowl in her hands.

"Yeah, skating," she answered. "Sora does it all the time in his Wisdom Form, and Riku and Selphie make it look so easy on their rollerblades. I want to go skating today."

"Princess Kairi, might I remind your attendance at the launching of the Starlight and the speech you are supposed to give her?" asked her head steward.

"I know, I know," she remarked. "I mean after that. I want to go skating after we bid bon voyage to the Starlight."

"Well I'm sure that that can be accommodated," Kensworth said. "Are you sure that you should be skating instead of reviewing the documents from the meeting you rushed out of yesterday when Minyamon's digiegg hatched?"

Kairi gave him a pained look. "Kenny," she explained, using the name she used to call him when she had still been a little girl, before Ansem the Wise had stolen her away to the safety of Destiny Islands during the raid on the castle that had seen to the murder of her parents and older brother, "in a day or so Sora's going to be back, and when he sees that my arm and ribs are all better he'll whisk me off my feet and into a gummi ship or a portal of light and I probably won't see the Garden again for months, with the closest thing to it being one of our ships or some world we might go to in order to defend it. Since I'm going to be launching the Starlight today, and I don't know exactly when Sora's going to be back, I'm not going to be spending what's left of my time here in an official capacity as Princess Kairi. I've also got cookies to bake and ice tonight for my trip to Keila Elementary School tomorrow."

Kensworth nodded his head at what the auburn-haired Keyblade Wielder was saying. "Very well, I'll see to it that we find you a nice-fitting pair of skates." All he did was look at one of the servants, and Arnold quickly got up and left the room. Kairi smiled. She was going to have a fun afternoon.

-A-D-

She was having a terrible afternoon.

The skates fit alright, but Riku and Selphie had never told her the slightest thing about rollerblading. It all looked so easy standing on the sidelines, watching her friends on the road or watching the Kings and Ravens play the previous night. Just keep your balance and push off with your legs, right?

WRONG!

"Whoa!" Kairi shrieked, her arms flailing about behind her as her feet suddenly moved forward while everything above her waist decided to stay put. She landed hard on her rump, which she was pretty sure was going to have a healthy amount of purple on it by the end of the day like her right cheek already did. Her jeans were already frozen and it didn't matter that she was in an indoor skating rink, the nip of the cold air was already making her nose, hands, and ears a little numb while her chest felt so incredibly hot beneath her ski jacket.

She tried to get back up again, but almost immediately slipped and fell back down, other skaters making sure to avoid the obstacle on the ice. Nobody had ever told her just how difficult it was to keep your balance when you were standing on a sheet of slippery ice with the only thing connecting you to it was a razor-thin blade of metal, or just how hard it was to get back up without accidentally doing the splits.

Huffing and puffing, Kairi somehow managed to get back to her feet, and she waved her arms as she suddenly felt her balance slipping while her skates moved forward without her consent. She pushed and bent forward, nearly sticking her butt into the air while her legs decided that they'd rather stay locked and rigid in a standing motion rather than trying to move her. Her hands scrabbled at the boards and Plexiglas as she happened to get near to it and Kairi steadied herself while heaving in large lungfuls of air.

Forget fighting the forces of darkness with the odds stacked against you to ridiculous levels, this was challenging; this was scary! Kairi glanced behind her as she concluded that she had finally come to a complete stop while resting against the boards, and she took great, great care that she didn't change her centre of gravity or shift her weight around by any noticeable amount while she patted the snow off the bottoms of her jeans. For a second there she was abashedly glad that she'd been wearing long pants instead of a skirt (though she'd have to be crazy like Naminé to wear a skirt when it was this cold), because otherwise when she'd stuck her rear end in the air a few seconds ago she was sure that anyone looking could have seen her…

Well her regular underwear was in the wash so what else was she going to wear, nothing? Kairi blushed as she talked to herself in her head. The thought of going commando was just too embarrassing to even consider.

She watched for a couple of minutes as people skated by her. There were couples with their hands held, people by themselves skating faster and faster and making sharp turns, small children skating backwards! She was being shown up by four-year-olds!

"What am I even doing?" Kairi wondered quietly.

A hiss came from atop the raspberry beret on her auburn-clad head. "Attempting to skate, my Queen."

Kairi glared upwards, even though she couldn't see the tiny flaming dragon on her hat. "You know, you're not really helping Plato," she said, her voice rasping and hissing in a draconic language that she didn't even realize she was speaking. It only came out when she talked to her familiar, and everyone around her always made some motion of discomfort when hearing the non-human sounds leave her mouth.

"I am a fire elemental, my Queen, why would I know how to propel myself to my death on a sheet of cold ice with only a razor-thin piece of metal as my support?"

Snorting, Kairi returned the reply with, "Well you could at least give me some tips couldn't you?"

"Don't fall?" the dragon suggested in a deceptively innocent tone.

She knew he was mocking her. "Very funny Plato. Well, let's see if I can stay up for longer than twenty seconds this time." Taking a deep breath, Kairi pushed herself away from the wall with her hands. The cool air passing against her face had a very pleasant feel, especially against the bruise on her cheek, but her momentum from her light push, since she hadn't wanted to go too strongly and overbalance herself, soon petered out and left her standing still on her skates. She began to wobble with every tiny movement, and a slow rise of panic began.

It wasn't long before the completely inexperienced skater made a mistake, one that had her falling down and hitting her tailbone. Plato hissed a quiet laugh from on her hat while Kairi massaged her bruised bum, feeling that a lot more than that was getting bruised as her time on the ice continued. Her ego, her pride, her self-esteem, it all went right down the toilet when she saw that same four-year-old wearing hockey gear just big enough for him skate past her, turning and skating backwards the whole time with just the barest of glances behind him.

Here she was, Kairi of Destiny Islands, the Legendary Crown Star Wielder of Light, a Knight of Radiant Garden, Wielder of the Keyblade, Princess of Heart, Apprentice of Garda, Chief Guardian of Destiny Islands; Crown Princess of Radiant Garden; Slayer of hundreds of Heartless; Vanquisher of Cho'kal, the Stone Golem; Victor at the Ford of Bruinen… and a four-year-old was skating rings around her! BACKWARDS!

Her face burned as she fumed in frustration. "This is a stupid pastime!" she muttered under her breath. "Gratz to the Kings and Riku and Selphie for making it look so! Damn! Easy!"

-A-D-

From a lounge just outside of the rink, watching through a window while sipping hot chocolate, Lord Ovan Ramius, Garda, and two members of the 8th Royal Guards (Trent and Namis to be exact), were watching her dismal progress. "How unsightly," Ovan remarked, shaking his granite-covered head and putting his amethyst eyes towards the table; he almost couldn't bear to watch any more of his goddaughter failing so epically at skating.

Private First Class Trent shook his head as well, watching her with embarrassment on his face. "I almost can't believe that Princess Kairi can't even skate. She can do just about anything."

"Just about anything," Pvt. Namis repeated with a grin. She didn't know why, but she found this whole scenario more amusing than embarrassing. Kairi was getting up again, and struggled over to the rail. Marie Namis was almost surprised that nobody had stopped to help her yet, especially one of the boys skating around; Kairi sure didn't have an unappealing face or figure, even if that bruise on her cheek detracted from her appearance and the raspberry beret she was refusing to take off was clashing with her auburn hair. Looking at her, though, she could at least see that many thought the girl to be a lost cause, or were waiting for her to figure it out on her own.

The four in the lounge couldn't be the only ones watching as she fell forward, after a couple of tentative strides, with her butt sticking into the air after all.

"Minya…" Minyamon mumbled sadly from Garda's shoulder.

Garda suddenly laughed. "You're right Ovan, she is unsightly. But sometimes you have to look ridiculous when learning something new."

The Marquess of Ramius sighed, and PFC Trent replied, "Yes, but this is just painful to watch."

"Was it any less painful when you were first learning to walk?" Garda asked perceptively. He noticed Kairi getting up again.

His three companions nodded, agreeing with their most distant and faded memories of their days as infants learning to walk. "She's stubborn," Namis noted.

"She perseveres," Garda corrected her. "She will not let those skates defeat her. Her resolve was brought to the breaking point of despair when her partner fell to defend her, but now that Minyamon has hatched from her digiegg Kairi's fire has returned, and will continue to burn even brighter than before. Nothing short of death will stop those kids from winning."

"But surely you can't bear to see her hurt?" Lord Ramius asked sharply.

The Chief Guardian met the Marquess' stare for a good ten seconds before looking away and sighing. "It was that fire in her heart that set me on the path of training her. She is a sweet girl; kind, and willing to help those in need. This is her path, and I agree with her choice."

"Even if she—"

"I did not say that I don't feel anything when I watch her get hurt fighting!" Garda snapped back. "Seeing her fight Cho'kal has been the proudest and most terrifying moment of my life. I never took on apprentices before her, because I was confident that this very thing would happen."

"What thing?" asked Trent.

Garda turned an eye on Kairi again as she struggled with the skates. "That's not your business," he declared in a gruff tone, before striding away.

"Where's he going?" Namis asked. She gasped. "The skate rental!"

Lord Ramius sighed as he watched Garda head out. "I was there when she was born," he said.

"Milord?" asked Pvt. Namis while Trent looked at him curiously.

"I was named her godfather," he continued, resigned, "but that man's more her surrogate father than I'll ever be. I was there when she was born, but he watched her grow up and trained her. He's more her godfather than I."

"Then just be an even better one to her sister," Marie told him. Ovan gave her a look and she bowed her head, remembering her station. He thought of the blonde then, and then smiled at the thought of Naminé.

"That may be harder than it sounds," he answered unexpectedly. But then, what was a man with only sons to do when confronted with a daughter? He only hoped the Marchioness would come to like her as much as he did.

-A-D-

She pushed off from the boards again, keeping her balance and doing her best not to fall. She'd figured out the tricky part of staying up, now it was only a question of being able to push back with one leg and stay steady on the other before pushing that one back as well before returning to the other leg, all without falling down.

"Oof!" Hands splayed out, kneecaps hitting the ice, rolling over to the right side, Kairi was against the cold again, only having moved six metres forward from when she'd pushed herself off the boards.

"This is dumb!" she growled to herself. "What idiot came up with something so stupid like this, and then decided to go and make sports involving it?"

"So why are you still trying so hard to skate?" asked Plato while Frosty the Snowman neared its end on the loudspeakers.

"Because I refuse to go back and see these skates mocking me!" Kairi retorted. "I know what they'd say if they could talk. 'Hee-hee, you can blow up a Large Body with a single fireball, but you can't stay up on a pair of skates'!"

The four-year-old did another lap, a giddy smile on his face.

"You're right, my Queen," remarked Plato in a growl, "the boy is beginning to annoy me too."

"GIRL!"

The shout was nowhere near as loud as Kairi was used to it being, but it was certainly a lot closer than she expected. Off of her side, Kairi knelt down on the ice: her hands down on the ice, her knees digging into the tiny chips of frozen water that skates had nicked out of the sheet, the teeth at the fore of her skates grinding against the cold, and her head bowed.

"Yes Master," she automatically answered. Her face was neutral, even as she was aware of the eyes on her and Garda. Black hockey skates were laced to his feet, and they stood without a wobble.

What's he doing out here, on the ice, with me? Can't he see all these people? This is so embarrassing. What could he be thinking? Has he even skated before?

He started to speak, and Kairi focused solely on it. "There is no shame in asking for help, Kairi." She looked up, and saw that he was extending his hand to her. The man had changed clothes. He wasn't wearing a white vest and shorts anymore, but a pair of black pants and a dark blue jacket. Kairi took the hand, and slipped a little bit as Garda hoisted her up, but she did not fall. "How sore are you?" he asked.

Kairi glanced back at her rump and grimaced. "Getting there…" she mumbled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."

"It's starting to get sore Master Garda," she repeated, louder this time. He extended his left hand this time, and in it was a wad of white cloth. Kairi instantly knew it to be padding.

"Take it and put it in," he told her. "I imagine that you want to be able to walk and sit down tomorrow."

Kairi blushed in embarrassment and made a squeak. She'd remembered the last time her bum had begun to hurt so much, when she'd insisted that Sora spank her for being stupid enough to let herself get captured and making him worry. It had seemed like a good idea at the time; the next morning, not so much.

But even so, as she carefully backed away from the rink to the boards and pulled at the backside of her jeans to insert the padding against her slightly damp cheeks, it was just so embarrassing that her cheeks, all four of them, started to burn. When she was done Kairi looked back up at Garda, and he nodded and held both his hands out. "Come on," he told her, "take my hands and we'll go slow."

"Bu—but," Kairi began, ashamed, "I'll fall."

"Not while I've got you," Garda assured her.

A voice chirped, "Minyamon!" from his shoulder, adding weight to his words. Kairi looked at the baby digimon and smiled. That one word gave her the confidence to grasp his hands.

Garda pushed backward with his legs, and he started to go backwards while Kairi moved forwards. Her knees remained locked, and she simply drifted forward, glancing down at the cold, hard ice, afraid of falling down again now that Garda was with her. That thought almost made her fall again, and her feet slipped out from beneath her and her bum just skimmed the ice before her master's strong arms hoisted the Princess back onto her skates.

"You're tense, relax," Garda instructed. "You were so tense when we first crossed swords that your arms practically shattered when you blocked my first swing, remember?"

Kairi did remember, and noted that he was smiling slightly. That caused the corners of her mouth to twinge into a smile of her own. He'd been a lot warmer to her recently, and she couldn't say that she didn't like the change. Her knees slowly began to unlock, but she still didn't loosen the grip she had on his strong hands. It didn't seem as if he'd expected her to.

"That's it," he said calmly, "breathe in, breathe out. Nice and easy. Lean forward slightly, just a bit, now. Push out with left, push out with right. Keep holding my hands, keep looking at me. Push out with left, push out with right; go with the flow; back and forth, back and forth. That's it, nice and slow and easy. And turn…" he drifted off as they came to the other end of the rink, and he slowly turned while skating backwards guiding her.

Kairi's fears slowly started to leave her as he began talking to her again in that same calm voice. "And back and forth, and push out with left, push out with right. Keep breathing, nice and slow and easy. That's it. Sway with the movement. On ice and skates you are not the solid wall or the charging bull, you are the beautiful dancer I have seen ignite the battlefield with quick feet and darting Keyblade. You are fluid, you are movement; you are the graceful swan. Shall I let go?" he asked.

The question took Kairi by surprise, but she nodded after a moment, quickly amending, "After the next turn." He nodded in understanding, and switched from guiding her from in front to holding onto only her left hand and skating beside her. Kairi wobbled a little bit, but quickly caught herself and stayed up. They turned, Garda guiding her through the turn at the end of the rink, and when they came around he let go.

Panic surged in Kairi for a moment, but Garda's words were still in her ears and he was still beside her, reminding her. She stayed up, she moved correctly, she swayed slightly with the movements of her body, and she skated freely.

A huge smile threatened to break her face as she looked up at Garda, only one thought going through her excited mind. I'm doing it! I'm DOING it! Look at me! I'm—Wa, wa, WAAA! "WHOA OOF!"

"Not quite the graceful swan or dragon, my Queen," Plato said to her while she sat on the ice again. The padding had at least softened the blow, somewhat.

Garda sighed. "We're going to need a chair."

-A-D-

So Kairi's learning to skate, and found that it's not as easy as our boys and girls in the NHL and the Olympics make it look.

Anyways, this is the last chapter for Garden of Snow and Ice, and I'm signing off for Animethon 18! Hasta la pasta!

May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk