Theme #228 - Acceptance
Kairi brought her legs up to her chest and laid her chin upon her knees, watching Sora and Riku - she had met the two of them when she awoke, washed up on the shore of Play Island - through the living room window as they tried to untangle the complicated knot tying their boat to the dock. Or, at least, Riku was, Sora was too busy yelling angrily out towards the other boat, which had already cast off and contained the laughing forms of Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka - she remembered seeing them around town sometimes.
Kairi gripped the edges of her dress tighter, looking down at her shoes. She had been here for four days now, staying with the mayor in the meantime, and she was starting to feel very lonely. The people of this town, though very kind and accommodating towards her, treated her with a polite wariness that always made her feel singled out. She was a stranger to the people of the island, a kind of stranger that people tended to shy away from, and it was beginning to wear on her.
She didn't even have any memories to comfort her…
Kairi blinked away the tears forming at the corners of her eyes, feeling someone's gaze on her - it was hard to admit, but she was starting to recognize the light pressure that only someone else's staring could produce. She glanced up and was surprised to find that it was Sora that was staring at her. The boy was still standing by the boats, knee deep in the cool ocean water, but now he was turned towards her instead of the boat filled with the rest of his friends, watching her wide, curious blue eyes.
Kairi's shoulders sagged a bit as she made eye contact with the boy. Whenever the islanders realized she had caught them staring at her, then they would immediately look away in shame, busying themselves with whatever task lay before them. She didn't want Sora to be like that…
She was pleasantly surprised, though, when Sora blinked, but continued to stare openly at her, breaking the contact only when he needed to blink. Something sparked within her, and she lifted a hand from her knees to wave at him, a small smile flitting at the corners of her mouth, widening when she received a large grin and a wave in return.
Kairi watched as Sora turned away from her, goofy grin still in place on his face, and said something to Riku, who was still attempting to untangle the knot and had made a lot of progress, but stopped to turn and look at Sora. They exchanged a few more words, Sora's grin growing with each passing second, before the brunette finally through his hands in the air, most likely in response to something Riku had said, and started running over to her.
He slid to a stop in front of her, a happy smile on his face as he extended a hand towards her. "Would you like to play on the island with us, Kairi?"
Kairi stared up at him, watching as his smile slipped just the slightest, the thought that she might not actually want to seeming to finally occur to him, his eyes flitting through emotions before finally settling on questioning.
Not once did she see an ounce of shame flit by...
Hesitantly, her hand shaking at the thought that he might suddenly reject her, Kairi placed her hand in Sora's, and watched as the grin resurfaced on his face and the happiness dance in his eyes as he pulled her to her feet.