A/N: Yeah! I am the Update Queen! Lol You guys owe me for two updates in one day!! Owe me reviews, that is!! SO REVIEW PLEASE!!!!
Disclaimer: Well, I haven't done one of these in a while… I don't… Never will… so there!
I also don't own "Heart of Mine" the song… I know Norah Jones sings it, but I don't know who wrote it ; )
Heart of Mine
"What…" Kairi asked hoarsely.
"…"
"What did you just say?" She asked softly again, her shoulders relaxing under his touch as she stared at him incredulously.
"N-nothing… I didn't say anything…" he muttered as he lifted his grasp on her and turned around to plop down on the sofa.
"What did you say?" she probed, sitting beside him, her face contorted in a confused glare.
"Kairi…" he sighed as he rubbed nervously at the back of neck. He opened his mouth to answer, but snapped it shut when he was unable to formulate any words. Suddenly, Sora felt another presence in the room and he looked over to see Riku standing awkwardly in the doorway to the hall, wearing a pair of Sora's blue jeans. Sora blushed as he wondered how long Riku had been standing there and how much he had heard. However, for once, he was glad for the intrusion. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and quickly got up and crossed the room to stand beside Riku. "Look!" he exclaimed triumphantly as he threw an arm around his friend's shoulders, "Riku's here!"
Kairi rolled her eyes and relaxed into the couch cushions, defeated.
Riku gave Sora a confused look before pulling Sora's arm off his shoulder and crossing the room to pick up the note still sitting on the end table by the sofa. "Hope you don't mind, I borrowed a pair of your jeans… Have you seen this?" he asked as he handed the note to Sora… as Sora read the scribbles, Riku walked back towards the dryer at the end of the hallway that was still tumbling with his wet shirt, "We were supposed to be at the bar fifteen minutes ago!" he yelled over his shoulder.
Sora nodded and placed the note on the table next to him. "Guess we'd better get dressed," he mumbled to Kairi, who was still sitting on the sofa with a pout on her face.
She sighed and stood up, crossing the room silently. She walked over to Riku and whispered something in his ear before heading into the bathroom. Sora looked at Riku in confusion.
Riku shrugged his shoulders before pulling his dry shirt over his head, "She says to go on ahead… she'll meet us there."
"Fine…" Sora muttered, "Give me a couple of minutes to get dressed…"
Riku nodded and plopped down on the sofa to wait for Sora. After a couple of minutes, Sora emerged from the back bedroom wearing a pair of dark wash blue jeans strapped to his hips with a brown belt and a plain blue button down shirt un-tucked with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. The collar of the shirt hung loosely around his collarbones and the top buttons remained unbuttoned to reveal the infamous crown chain that never left his neck. He shoved his feet into a pair of white sneakers while glancing out the window to notice the rain shower dissipating into a slight sprinkle. "Thank the heavens…" he muttered as he sprayed some cologne on his shirt, "It finally stopped raining…"
"Yep," Riku agreed, "You ready to go?"
"Yeah…"
Riku stood up and quickly crossed the room and knocked lightly on the bathroom door… "Kai… we're leaving now. We'll see you a little bit!"
"Ok, Riku! Tell Leon and the gang I'll be there shortly!!" she called from behind the bathroom door as the sound of running water started, indicating that she was about to take a shower.
The boys sauntered out the front door and made their way towards the market, splashing in the wet streets as twilight began to settle on the town of Radiant Garden.
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Kairi moaned softly as she stepped under the running water, letting it beat down on her shoulders and head. Her mind raced with the day's recent events and she kept trying to convince herself that she had not heard Sora mutter the words that she thought she had heard. He had said them so quietly, mumbling incoherently… but… she could have sworn he had told her that he…
"Na…" she laughed shaking her head at the absurdity. "There's no way he said that." She said as she piled some shampoo on her hands and massaged her head with the suds. "Or did he…"
She growled at herself as she scrubbed vigorously at her scalp, "Kairi! Knock it off… quite doing this to yourself. He did not say that…" But as she thought about the possibility, he heart fluttered in her chest as the broken shards reconnected with each other with every beat. "Don't do it…" she told her beating heart… "Don't…" She shook her head as she rinsed the suds out of her hair and ran a handful of conditioner through her wet locks. "Don't fall for him again; he'll just break you again…"
She sighed as she rinsed off the last of the soap suds covering her body and turned off the water facets. "I'm really loosing it…" she laughed as she stepped out of the shower and toweled off, "I'm talking to my heart for heaven's sake!"
She tucked the towel under her arms and quickly dried her hair and let it fall around her shoulders softly as she carefully applied some light makeup and lip gloss. Before crossing the hall to the room that held her bag, she poked her head out the door to assure herself no one was still in the house. Satisfied that she was indeed alone, she quietly entered the small bedroom and changed into a pair of black capris and a dark violet top.
She glanced at herself in the full length mirror and momentarily reconsidered the low neck line that showed a little more cleavage than she was comfortable with, but some tiny voice whispered in the back of her head, Sora will like it… She smiled as she slipped her polished toes into a pair of black strappy high heel sandals. With once last glance in the mirror, she ran her fingers through her crimson locks and puckered her scarlet lips at the mirror before grabbing her purse and rushing out the door.
Her heels clicked along the cobblestone walk as she hurried through the Burrough towards the market streets. Dusk was settling over the town and the sky glowed with the setting sun and moonlight peeking around the clouds that dissipated overhead. The short walk to the bar went by quickly.
Kairi frowned at the pungent odor of cigarette smoke and whiskey as she entered the small bar. The establishment was cozy, and situated on top of one of the shops just off the main street. A long black bar stood to the side of the front door and ran the length of the room, although it was almost camouflaged behind a mass of bodies. Along the wall across from the bar were several open pairs of double doors that led out to a narrow balcony that was lined with bistro tables and chairs, which also ran the length of the room. At the back of the room was a small stage that was currently set up for karaoke where a very familiar dark-haired ninja stood behind a microphone singing along obnoxiously to a pop song. The bar itself was pleasantly full, but not too crowded to make one uncomfortable.
Kairi shifted in her heels as she scanned the room for her friends. She finally saw Riku's silver locks and heard Cid's unmistakable accent, and made her way towards where they were sitting at a few tables pushed together right in front of the stage.
Sora sat at the end of the table, his arms crossed across his chest as he and Leon tried desperately not to burst into laughter at Yuffie's 'performance' onstage. Riku sat with Aerith and Cid at the other end of the table talking amongst themselves as Kairi walked up to the table.
"Hey guys…" she greeted warmly as she sat down between Leon and Aerith.
"Hi hun!" Aerith smiled and hugged Kairi, "Glad you could make it!"
The guy's muttered their 'hello's'… all except for Sora who was still gawking at Kairi speechless, until Leon elbowed him in the ribs to bring him back to reality. He shook his head of his thoughts and smiled sheepishly, "Hey Kai…"
Kairi smiled briefly in his direction before averting her eyes to her hands and reminding herself of her talk with her 'heart' in the shower earlier. Yuffie bounded off the stage, squealing as she picked Kairi up in a bear hug. "Kairi! You came!"
Kairi laughed as Yuffie loosened her hold around her, "Happy birthday Yuffie! Sorry I didn't have to time to get anything… I didn't even know it was your birthday…" she apologized quietly.
"It's okay! I'm just glad you guys are here to celebrate with me!"
"Us too…" Sora smiled.
At that moment a waitress wearing all black, including a short miniskirt covered by an apron, and tank top, interrupted the idle conversation. Her hair was light blond and cut short just under her chin and stood out all over her head in texture. A thick black headband tucked behind her ears and her emerald eyes shown brilliantly behind her long bangs. She smiled warmly as she greeted the group, "Hey guys! My name is Shai and I'll be your server for the evening… What can I get for ya?"
All the guys ordered beer, except for Sora, who ordered a cranberry juice. Yuffie ordered a margarita and Aerith a glass wine. Kairi waved her hands dismissively, "I don't really want anything."
"Oh, come on now." Shai smiled convincingly. "At least let me get you a glass of water."
Kairi smiled back and nodded her head, "With lemon please."
After obtaining proper ID, Shai spun on her heels and headed for the bar. Sora couldn't help but notice Riku eyeing the waitress up and down as she walked away and he laughed as he jabbed him in the stomach. "Hey! Get your head out of the clouds!"
Riku blushed briefly and smirked at Sora through silver bangs. "Don't you mean get your head out of the gutter?" he laughed.
"Whatever man…" Sora rolled his eyes.
After a few minutes Shai returned with a tray full of drinks and proceeded to pass them out to owners as Yuffie jumped up from her spot at the end of the table suddenly. "Kairi!" she exclaimed, "I know what I want you guys to get me for my birthday!"
"What is it Yuffie?" Kairi asked as she accepted her glass of water from Shai and mouthed a 'thank-you'.
"I want you guys to sing a song!"
"WHAT?!" all three stopped what they were doing and stared at Yuffie with blank expressions.
Yuffie giggled as she sipped on her margarita, "You heard me! I said I want ya'll to sing a karaoke song! But not together! You each have to sing your own… and I want Kairi to go first!!"
Kairi groaned as she held her face in her hands, "Yuffie, isn't there anything else you want? Flowers? A CD? A card?!"
"Nope" Yuffie smiled triumphantly, "I want a song… any song… I don't care! It doesn't even have to have anything to do with me!"
Kairi sighed as she stood up and climbed the stage.
"WHAT?! Kairi… you aren't actually going to do this are you?!" Riku choked.
"Hey… what the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl gets."
Sora crossed his arms defiantly. "Whatever… there is NO way you're getting me up there…" he muttered under his breath.
Kairi ignored him as she scrolled through the list of songs until a certain title caught her attention. Heart of Mine. She glanced through the lyrics and recognized them from a jazz club she gone to with Selphie and Tidus back home. She quickly considered the appropriateness of it after her conversation with her own heart earlier. She also wondered if the object of her remorse would catch on to underlying meaning. She pushed the thought aside, reminding herself that this was Sora she was talking about… Not the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to the obvious… She sighed and entered the code for the song on the player and waited for the music to start…
As the soft tune began to play, the butterflies in her stomach fluttered to life as she gripped the microphone stand in front of her for dear life. As the words bounced onto the screen in front of her, she took a deep breath and sang quietly into the microphone.
Heart of mine, be still
You can play with fire, but you'll get the bill.
Don't let him know,
Don't let him know that you love him.
Don't be a fool, don't be blind
Heart of mine
As she sang, she avoided Sora with all her might, looking anywhere in the small bar but at him. Yet, if she had she would have seen the dumbfounded grin plastered across his face and dreamy stare in his eyes. She smiled as her gaze landed on Riku as he nodded reassuringly and ushered her to sing on. She built more confidence with each line of the song, and by the second verse, he voice was full and strong and filled the room with the smooth melody.
Heart of mine, go back home
You've got no reason to wander, no reason to roam
Don't let him see,
Don't let him see that you need him
Oh! Don't put yourself over the line
Heart of mine
During the break that followed, Kairi found herself tapping her heels and swaying her hips subconsciously to the beat of the song. She continued to avoid Sora's gaze until curiosity got the best of her and she glanced quickly in his direction. She found him staring at the table top in front of him, his hands up around his neck so that his face was obscured by his forearms. He doesn't even look like he's enjoying it… Kairi frowned and took a deep breath as tears stung the backs of her eyes. She glared at him briefly before starting the third verse with more passion that the first two…
Heart of mine, go back where you been
The only trouble with you, is if you let him in
Don't let him hear
Don't let him hear where you're going
Oh! I'm tired of ties that bind
Heart of mine
At the second break, she noticed Sora shift uncomfortably in his seat out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly she noticed him stand up and leave the table. He turned towards the back of the bar and walked towards what she assumed where the bathrooms. He couldn't even stay to hear me sing?! She bit her tongue as she tried to suppress the tears threatening her voice. She finished the song fervently as she glared at the brunette spikes wandering through the crowd of people.
Heart of mine, so malicious and so full of guile
I give you an inch and you take a mile
Don't let yourself fall
Don't let yourself stumble
Oh! Do the time, don't do the crime
Heart of mine
Heart of mine…
A/N: So, I promised a certain someone I would use the song he suggested in this chapter… but I decided to have Kairi go first… I promise it will be in the next chapter!! hehe…