Sleepless Chapter 2
Kairi felt something hit her chest again and again and air fly into her lungs. Her eyes shot open as she coughed up the leftover sea water that was in her mouth. Groaning, she blinked multiple times to get her vision less blurry. She realized she was lying on the sand at the island.
"You alright, Kairi?" The voice showed concern.
She turned her head to her left to see a sunny smile and blonde hair.
"Hey, Tidus." She managed to mumble through her finally-breathing throat.
"What happened to you? Did you fall off your boat again?" He teased. Tidus stood up and wiped the sand off his shorts and offered Kairi a hand.
She took it with a smile and nodded shyly, "Kind of. But I can't remember exactly what happened after that." She explained.
I'm always with you.
She stiffened suddenly and she could tell Tidus felt it too. But he only gave her a concerned look and she quickly shook her head as a reply. They let go of each other's hands and smiled at each other for a second before he turned his back on her.
"I'm glad I came just in time." He said as he walked onto the small dock. He flashed her a smile then kneeled down to get his boat ready, "We'll get your boat when we pass it. You were going back home, right?"
"Um..Yeah!" She quickly responded. She ran towards him and tapped his shoulder once she got near enough.
"Yeah?" He questioned. He stood up and looked at her then.
"Thank you, for saving me." Kairi said gently and gave a caring smile.
"Um," he mumbled, starting to blush lightly, "It's no problem. C'mon, I'll get you back home." He said with a nod as he scratched the back of his head.
She was oblivious to his nervousness and stepped into his boat, making room for him as she sat down. He grabbed the paddles off the dock and sat down facing her. He began to row the boat towards hers that was still a bit away.
As he rowed, she looked out into the water to drift into her thoughts. How could she do something so stupid? She wanted to scream at herself. She could have…died. Her eyes turned watery again and she sighed in disappointment at herself. She looked at her linked fingers that were set her lap and unlinked them. She tried to wipe her eyes without Tidus knowing, but she was sure he already knew.
"Kairi…it's alright, you know. Things like this happen all the time." He tried to reassure with a caring tone. She appreciated he was trying to cheer her up, but she figured he could never understand what she was feeling. "So…" He started. She could feel him searching for her eyes, so she decided to make his search easier and look up at him. "This will be a cool story to tell Riku and Sora, hm?"