Messing up and calming down

Quiet voices came from the other room and floated into the kitchen. Kaity and I stood where we were. We didn't want to walk out into the room unexpectedly and scare the two girls that had just entered the house. However, we did walk up to the doorway and peer around the corner into the room.

We heard the door close and saw two girls walk into the room. They were our age and height, but were a bit thinner than us, like most video game characters tended to be. Which would explain why this tank top felt a bit tight around my hips. The auburn haired girl walked over to the couch and sat next to Sora while the blonde haired girl went to sit next to Roxas on the loveseat. Since both of their faces are turned away from me, I couldn't see them. But even though I couldn't see their faces, I already knew who they were.

The two girls were Kairi and Namine.

Well, the whole gang is here now.

Deciding that we should enter the room and figure out when we were leaving, I walked out into the room standing a few feet from the couch. Riku saw Kaity and I enter and focused back on the game on the TV. No one else seemed to notice us enter the room. So much for instincts.

"So," Kairi said as she settled down on the couch. "How are our two guests?"

"Uh..." Sora noticed us standing there. I just smiled and leaned on my elbows on the back of the couch.

"Actually, we're doing great." I said almost right next to Kairi's ear.

Kairi gave a small, startled shriek at the sudden sound of my voice and jumped up from the couch right into Roxas, who had also risen in surprise. Kairi toppled into Roxas making him lose his balance and trip over the coffee table in the middle of the floor. He fell over backwards and landed on the floor below him with a nice, hard 'Thump'. Namine only gave a startled shriek and turned to face us.

Kaity walked up behind me looking at the scene I had created. She stared around the room a moment longer before cracking up loudly at the reactions. Sora and Riku joined her after they had registered what happened. I continued to speak despite the chaos.

"Other than the swelling fatigue and the aching pain still lingering a bit on the back of my head, I'm doing absolutely fine." I turned to Kaity. "How about you, Kai?"

Kaity just kept laughing as the others tried to settle down.

Sora heard my question to Kaity and stopped laughing. A confused frown was now in place of his usually goofy grin. When I noticed the sudden change, my smile slowly slid of my face as well. I returned his confused look at me. Why is he looking at me like that? I thought. Did I say something? I mentally reviewed what I had just said. As I ran over one particular sentence, my face froze in realization. I carefully composed my expression to hide the look of dismay that was threatening to show. I slipped up. Big time.

I had called Kaity 'Kai'.

I had called her Kairi.

Ah, crap.

He noticed, I thought while carefully matching his gaze. What do I do? I kept the confused/why-are-you-looking-at-me-like-that look on my face. Sora mashed together his eyebrows and I raised one.

"What?" I asked.

The others had noticed the silence between Sora and I and stopped laughing to focus on us. Roxas had already picked himself off the floor and sat back down next to Namine. Everyone was looking at Sora and I with confused looks. Jeez, have you ever been in a room where every person in the room was giving off the same emotion? I hadn't until then and it was not the coolest thing in the world to feel. It was making me nervous and uncomfortable. Which means that I'm guilty and I have something to hide. Great.

"Uh...Did you just call Kaity 'Kai', Sam?" Sora finally spoke up. "As in, Kairi?"

Every ones' moods shifted. Kaity fixed her alarmed stare on me. Kairi, Namine, and Roxas were still confused. Probably about why I would call Kaity such a thing. One glare in particular was drilling a hole into the side of my head; I just knew it. Riku's suspicious glare was directed straight at me. Great. It's going to be a challenge to keep our secret from him much longer. We're probably going to have to tell him sooner or later. But it's going to have to be later. Right now, I have to get back to the matter at hand. I hate spacing out. It's really- Gah! I'm doing it again! Okay, Sam, focus. Focus and stop spacing out.

"Um...No?" Come on! I need an excuse. "...Why would I call her, Kai?" I said through my teeth "I said, uh, Kai." I blurted out. "You know, like K-ay? It's, um, short for Kaity!" I sweat dropped as I finished and mentally died. There was no way in Hell they would believe that story. I'm going to die. We're going to die. We're going to get found out and then die.

"Oh," Sora said looking embarrassed now. "Sorry. I must be hearing things. It just sounded like you said Kai."

I gripped the back of the couch to keep myself from collapsing on the floor in relief. I laughed in relief and reassurance. "It's okay!" I said with a smile. "I was mumbling. You didn't hear me correctly." I smiled and mentally collapsed. We're not going to die... I thought laughing nervously in my head. I really need to think before I speak.

I looked up and met Riku's glare. He still had that suspicious gleam in his eyes as he stared at Kaity and me. After a moment, he shifted his gaze back to the game on the TV.

Well, we're not going to die by Sora's hand at least, I thought solemnly and winced away from the hard glare. I stared down at my hands with a sad frown on my face. We're really going to have to tell him, aren't we? Not at the moment, though. Later. We probably will need someone to know the truth sooner or later. I just don't know if Riku's the best choice...

Kaity walked up behind me and discreetly whacked me over the head. I cringed knowing that I totally deserved it. Then without any warning, Kaity shoved me to the side and onto the floor. I yelped as I fell onto my butt. She just stuck her tongue out at me and turned to Kairi. Kaity stuck her hand out to her.

"Hi," She said happily. "I'm Kaity." Kairi smiled at her nicely. Jeez, her smile is so pretty. It's no wonder why Sora likes her so much.

"I'm Kairi, it's nice to meet you." She grasped Kaity's hand. As soon as she gripped it, she pulled her hand back violently with a pained expression on her face. Kaity snatched her own hand back just as quickly. What the heck?

I picked myself up off the ground while asking, "What's wrong?"

Kaity and Kairi both gave each other puzzled looks. Kairi was the first to speak. "I-I don't know." She said, uncertain. "When I grabbed her hand...it felt like something shocked me."

That's weird. Something shocked her? Just by grabbing Kaity's hand?

Kaity was rubbing her right hand (the one Kairi grabbed) gradually. She was nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I felt it, too." Everyone had confused looks on their faces; again. Why is it that we are always confused? We really need to find some other emotion to overuse.

I sighed aloud and reached my hand over to touch Kaity's shoulder. Nope. No shock. I did the same to Kairi. Still no shock.

"Perhaps it was just static." I suggested. "You know, like static shock?"

"Yeah," Kairi said thoughtfully. "Maybe."

They exchanged a wary look and just brushed it off. I went over to Kairi and introduced myself to her as Kaity introduced herself to Namine. After Kaity was done, she went and sat on the floor space in between the couch and the loveseat.

I went to introduce myself to Namine. I extended my hand to her. "Hi," I said politely. "I'm Sam."

"Hello," She said smiling courteously. "I'm Namine. It's a pleasure to meet you." She took my friendly gesture. When our palms met, a jolting shock went from my hand and up my arm. I gasped in pain and pulled my hand away sharply. Namine also cringed in pain and retreated her hand. What...was that? I thought as I peered at my palm. It felt as if three hundred thousand bolts of electricity went through my bones. It hurt; a lot. And from the look on Namine's face, she had felt it too. How strange... I thought as I tenderly rubbed my sore arm.

Kaity pointed at us. "You guys felt it, too!" Kaity gasped from the floor. "Didn't you?"

"Yeah..." I was staring at Namine and she was staring back.

That definitely wasn't a static shock. But then...what was it? Gosh, I'm getting a headache now. I thought tiredly. I lightly shook my head and went to go sit down on the floor in front of the fireplace. I took a moment to actually look at Kairi and Namine. I mean, this is the first time I've seen them, well, not in the Kingdom Hearts video game.

Kairi, like Sora, wasn't wearing the same clothes that she wore in the game. Instead of the short pink dress she had been wearing at the end of the second game, she was wearing a short pink denim skirt with the same black belt with the brown side bag. The skirt was a shade of dark pink with a silver flower design along the bottom of the piece of clothing. With that, she was wearing a plain white tank top with one of those vests that stopped mid-torso. It was the same kind and color of denim as her skirt. A black cotton hoodie was attached to the vest. She was wearing the same shoes and bracelets and necklace she always wears around her neck. Other than that, she looked like she had in the game. If anything, she was prettier. Her hair had a more reddish tint to it and her eyes were still oceanic. Bright and dazzling.

After I had scrutinized Kairi, I looked over to Namine. She was wearing something more simple and basic, but not really all that plain. Instead of the short white dress she wore in the game, she was wearing a short pleated denim skirt with a belt similar to Kairi's, except it was white with two small light blue coin bags on each hip. With that, she was wearing a white cotton vest lined with blue and a light blue tank top was underneath the vest. For shoes, she was wearing a pair of blue and white wedge slip on sandals. Her light blonde hair was the same, if not longer, and her eyes were the same shade of blue as Kairi's. Except, Namine's eyes seemed calmer and more thoughtful than Kairi's.

I came back to reality and realized that while I was zoned out studying Namine and Kairi; Riku, Sora, and Roxas were explaining mine and Kaity's story to the other girls. They had just finished talking when I focused in on the conversation again.

I keep zoning out... I thought, annoyed. I blame the hovering cloud of exhaustion around my brain.

"Alright." Kairi said considerately. "If the five of you are going, then you are going to need supplies." She stood up from the couch and walked toward the kitchen to get together some food for us to bring along on the journey, I guess.

"It only takes about six hours to get there." Sora said standing up and stretching. "So, snacks should be fine, Kairi."

She walked out of the room with a "Whatever you say, Sora" called over her shoulder at him. He smiled a sad smile after her. Later, when I thought back to this moment, I realized that I was the only one to notice his sudden expression. It made me sad, seeing him so torn. Weird part is that I had this strange ache in my chest. It surprised me. I felt bad for him, but I didn't feel that upset. While I sat there puzzled about the strange sadness, Sora left the room and headed up the stairs.

Namine got up and went into the kitchen to help Kairi. At the same moment, Riku and Roxas followed Sora out of the room and went up the stairs as well. Dismissing my thoughts, I went over everything that had just happened. I smiled an eager grin, jumped up from my spot, went over, and sat next to Kaity.

"I can't believe it." I grinned. "We have finally met the Kingdom Hearts characters."

"Yeah, I know." Kaity said dreamily. "I never imagined that Sora would be so much cuter in person and that Kairi would be so much prettier."

"Same here." I giggled. "And now we're on our way to Disney Castle."

"Yeah..." Kaity said trailing off. She was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Sam, what do you plan on doing once they figure out we're lying?" She whispered just loud enough for me to hear. "I mean, there taking us to see the king! We know that Castaway Cay doesn't exist, obviously, but what will we do when they figure it out?"

I thought about it for a moment. What will we do? I had no plan B. They couldn't kill us, could they? Would they even understand the truth if we told them? I had this funny feeling in my gut. But I couldn't tell what it was trying to tell me. All I know at the moment is that we need to keep up our charade for as long as we can. At least until we figure out what to do. After that, we'll decide what to do.

I thought back to the suspicious glare Riku had given me. Then there's Riku, a voice in the back of my mind said. I groaned mentally. We have to tell him. There is no avoiding it. I whimpered silently on the inside. I didn't want to tell him and face him alone; I hate to admit it, but I'm scared too. I mean, I know he probably wouldn't kill me, but I don't know him. He could have a sudden change of heart and smite me on the spot. However, maybe he would help us if we told him. We could certainly use some help.

I looked at Kaity. "I haven't thought that far ahead," I admitted. "You know, you could try to think of something, too." I suggested while glancing back at the doorway the boys had walked through. "Also, I was going to mention it later, but we're going to have to tell Riku the truth. Or else he's going to be blocking our path. Whatever it may be."

"Yeah, I know," She said glaring at the doorway that lead to the stairs. "He's too observant for his own good." Her eyes slid back to mine. "However, that's your fault, you know," She said looking back at me with a mocking gleam in her eyes.

"What?" I said taken aback. "Why?"

"Because, you're such a bad actress," She laughed. "You can't lie, Sam. It's one of your flaws."

I crossed my arms like the stubborn, immature teenager I was and stuck out my tongue at her. I told lies perfectly fine. I was just completely caught off guard with the whole 'Kai' thing. "Well, at least I can think of excuses fast when someone messes up."

Kaity stuck her tongue out at me and stood up from the floor trying to avoid the lecture she knew I would be giving her. I rose as well, already starting to tell her off. A few seconds later, the boys walked into the room. Kaity and I jumped when they came into view. We were expecting to hear them walk down the stairs, but they made no noise at all. I wish I had that talent. Damn them and their noiseless habits.

"All right." Sora said as he continued walking into the kitchen. "We're ready." Sora had changed out of the casual outfit he had been wearing and was now back into his black, yellow, and red outfit from Kingdom Hearts II.

Okay, I'm guessing that the guys all went up stairs to change or grab something, because Riku was now holding a small drawstring bag and a ring of keys and Roxas was now wearing the rest of his outfit. Wait a second. Keys? What are the keys for? And what's in the bag?

"Hey, Riku," I said curiously. He glanced over at me with a 'what-do-you-want' look. "What's in the bag?" I said while poking it.

All right. I admit it; I'm noisy. Bite me.

"Just various potions and elixirs." He answered, while reaching into the bag and drawing out one of the small bottles to show me. The bottle looked exactly like the one Sora had given me earlier.

"Oh," I said while adverting my eyes to the couch. Feeling the weariness of my bones hit me all of a sudden, I walked over to it and fell back onto it. I could have a moment of rest while they finished gathering themselves. I closed my eyes against the bleary light around me and waited to leave. However, before that could happen, something unexpected and heavy landed on my stomach. I groaned in sudden pain and cracked open an eye to see what it was. It was Kaity.

"Ah, jeez. Couldn't you sit somewhere else?" I moaned in pain as she shifted to get comfortable.

"Nope," She said while leaning against the back of the couch. I sighed in exasperation.

A few minutes later, Kairi and Namine walked out of the kitchen with a bag of food and drinks. Sora trailed behind them and followed them to the front door.

"Are you ready?" Roxas asked Sora.

"Yup." He replied, as Kairi handed the bag of food to him. He took it and slung it over his shoulder.

Seeing that as a sign that we were leaving soon, I pushed Kaity off of me and onto the floor. I got off the couch and walked over to my bow to pick it up. Kaity picked herself up off the floor, silently cursing me. I grinned and slung my bow across my chest. I looked up at the rest of the gang. "I'm all ready."

Namine walked over to the door and held it open for us. Kairi was looking at Sora like she wanted to say something. As did Namine, looking over to Roxas. Kaity and I exchanged a look and stepped outside with Riku after he said goodbye to Kairi and Namine. A moment later, Roxas and Sora joined us, and we all looked at each other before looking toward the sun and walking down the road that would lead us to our new journey.