UPDATE! That took about 5 days right? I hope so. I wasn't counting them. Thanks to all the recent reviewers! Greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters used in this story nor do I own the franchises Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy
Chapter 6 – Bonding Time
Dawn breaks and light spills into my room illuminating every corner of darkness. My white bed sheets reflect the harsh morning light onto my face. I wake up to trudge myself to the washroom to get ready. I look at myself in the mirror and I see a blonde girl with disheveled hair stick out in multiple places. I take the hair brush beside the sink and I straighten out all the stray strands of hair. I brush my teeth and I take a shower, completing the rest of my morning ritual.
I leave the washroom and I enter the closet in my room, rifling through my clothes looking for something appropriate to wear. Today was day of the beach party that Selphie, Wakka and Tidus had mentioned on the first day of school. Selphie was seriously hyped for this and she spent a lot of her time after school planning what was going to happen, what stuff the party needed and who was going to get the stuff.
I continue to search my closet for some clothes and I decided to wear a simple light blue sundress. I took my shoulder bag with me and I placed my sketchbook and pencils inside. Knowing that everyone would be loud and having fun, I'd probably sit against a tree somewhere and sketch the scene.
"Naminé! Breakfast is ready!" Kairi called up the stairs.
"I'm coming!" I quickly reply and I skip down the steps.
I drop my bag by the front door and I walk into the kitchen, attracted by the smell of blueberry pancakes. Lightning was by the stove sliding a pancake on to a plate of them.
"Hey sis. Glad to see that you didn't sleep in," she said jokingly and passed me a plate of pancakes. "I knew you and Kai had to wake up early so I made something that I knew would get you awake."
"Thanks. You're the best," I smile up at her. I take the plate of pancakes from her hands and settle down at the breakfast bar beside Kairi. Kairi pouted at my compliment, "Hey I thought I was your favourite sister!"
I grin cheekily at her, "Until the day that you make blueberry pancakes for me, Lightning will be my favourite." Of course I don't actually mean that, but I just like to tease Kairi sometimes. She sets herself up every time.
Lightning hung her apron on the double hinged door before taking her cup of coffee to the breakfast bar. The leant over it and looked into my eyes. "Is that how it is Naminé? In that case, I won't be making blueberry pancakes for you again." She ruffled my hair and took her coffee up the stairs and into her room. She's probably going to talk to Noel, her co-worker. She and Noel are lifeguards and they often do their shifts together. Apparently today they were going to do their shifts at the play island. Rarely that ever happens since not many occupy the small island at once.
I turn to the stair case and I call after her, "What time are you starting you shift?"
She walks back down with her phone pressed to her ear. She removes it from the side of her head and grumbles at it and deftly swipes across the screen with her finger. "Around 1:00. So don't do anything stupid until then." She plops down on the couch and taps at her phone quickly.
I scoff lightly, "Right like we would do anything stupid. Though I wouldn't be surprised if Tidus or Wakka decide to goof off. In fact, I'm expecting them to drunk or something like that."
That's right. Drunk. Meaning alcohol. According to Roxas, one of the friends that he made here, Axel, is bringing some beer, mainly for him and his own buddies since they're of age.
"If they do get drunk, I am not doing anything to clean up after them. Not my job," she said sternly and looks at me and Kairi, "Got it?"
"Yeah I got it we got it," Kairi said quickly. "Come on Nam. We don't have all day. We still have to get the beach gear out on to the front porch."
Riku was coming around to our place to pick up the umbrellas and volleyball gear that we have. He was going to load the stuff onto his pickup and grab some more stuff from Sora's.
I finish off the rest of my pancakes and put my plate into the sink. Kairi pulls me into the basement and flicks on the lights, illuminating the dark room. I walk around to the room underneath the staircase and I open the door, releasing a puff of dust. I wave off the musky smell and I spot the umbrellas tucked into the corner of the room.
"Kai! I found the umbrellas! Did you find the volleyball stuff yet?"
I hear muffled struggling from the other storage closet in the basement. "Yeah! Help me with the poles for the net!"
"Give me a second! I'm bringing the umbrellas outside!" I pull the umbrellas from the corner and I haul it out the room. It takes my three trips up and down the stairs to bring all the umbrellas out from the tiny room. I prop the last of them outside the house against the porch railing and I see Riku's Dodge pickup roll into the driveway. I wave at him with one hand and block out the bright sun with the other. He hops out of the truck and smiles at me.
"Morning Naminé," he greets. Riku looks down at the umbrellas and furrows his eyebrows. "Is this all the stuff? I thought you guys had volleyball gear?"
"Yeah we do. I'm going back inside to help Kairi get it from the basement." I turn around to go back in, but Riku puts a hand on my shoulder.
"It's okay. I'll go help. Where's Kairi?"
I wasn't entirely sure about him walking into my house without a notice. Lightning would agree with me too since I just met him a few days ago.
"You don't have to do this Riku. Plus if I need help I'll just get Lightning to haul it up from the basement."
He stuffs his hands into his pockets. "Alright, if you insist. I'll just grab the stuff from you when you bring it out."
I turn around and I walk back into the house. Lightning was still on the couch, but she was talking on the phone. Probably Noel. Looks like she won't be helping us anytime soon.
I go back down into the basement and I see Kairi dragging the volleyball poles on the ground.
"You really should do that Kai. You'll end up scratching the flooring," I disapproved. I walk over to the other end of the poles I lift it up so they wouldn't drag on the ground.
"Is Riku here yet Nam?"
"Yeah. He just pulled into the driveway a couple minutes ago."
We bring the poles out on the porch and Riku appears from the rear of the truck bed. It looked like he finished putting the umbrellas away. He walked over to us and took the poles from our hands effortlessly.
Kairi looked bemused. "Isn't that slightly heavy at least?"
Riku chuckled at her expression. "Nope. This is nothing really."
It would make sense. Riku was packing some serious muscle. I mean, those arms aren't just from impressing the other girls at school right?
He closed the truck bed and hopped into the driver's seat and started the truck. As he backed out the driveway, he waved at and called out to us. "See you girls later!"
The truck eventually disappeared down the end of the street and I leant against the porch railing. Kairi walked past me and into the house, but she stuck her head back. "Aren't you coming back in? Last time I recalled, you need a bathing suit to go swimming."
"Yeah I know," I answered absent-mindedly. I was thinking about something else; something blonde. Lately Roxas had been on my mind and I couldn't push him out of my head. Two days after the first day of school, Professor Marluxia had put the class' work on display outside of the art department office. A few murmurs had spread through the class about my painting and the same goes for Roxas'. Honestly I didn't think he would go through with the whole retort of 'I'd rather paint a stampede of horses'. Apparently he did paint that and it wasn't bad. Not bad at all. It wasn't a horrid image of horses trampling the streets of some Spanish city. No wait that's bulls. Never mind that. The point was that his painting was beautiful. It was of horses running freely in a wide open plain. I had underestimated his abilities and I was impressed. He's just full of surprises. I wonder what he might do today.
I go back inside the house and up to my room to pack a baby blue one piece into my bag. For some reason I felt like someone was watching me; telling me that the decision that I just made was incorrect. I turn around swiftly to come face to face with Kairi, our noses just barely touching. I jump backwards, bumping into the dresser.
"Jesus Kairi! Knock next time will you?" I felt my heart leaping out of my chest in surprise. I was seriously done with all her sneaking up on me. "Besides why were you looking over my shoulder anyways?"
"Oh nothing, except the fact that you should have packed the two piece that I bought you last summer!"
She was poking her finger at my nose accusingly. "Kai, I really don't want to wear that. It's so… revealing." I attempt to hide myself behind my hair, but Kairi just nudges me aside so she could rummage through my dresser. She pulls out the two piece bathing suit that I dread the most. It was a soft yellow colour that apparently matches with my hair. I honestly couldn't care about that more so the amount of skin that it exposed.
"Do I seriously have to wear that Kai?" I whine. Hopefully that would get her to give into my request, but knowing her, she would deny it and force me to wear it.
"Of course!" she said jubilantly. Damn it. I wish she never bought this for me in the first place. According to Kairi, the existing bathing suits that I had were too 'drab'. She said I needed to show off more and ended buying this… monstrosity for me.
She shoved the bathing suit into my hands and walked out of the room. I sighed as I pushed the bathing suit into my bag. I skip down the staircase and I see Kairi by the door ready to go.
I slip my feet into a pair of flip flops. "So are we going straight to the island?"
Kairi nods her head. "Not exactly. We're supposed to meet Sora and Roxas there. Hopefully they don't arrive too early at the pier or else they'll end up looking like idiots standing around awkwardly."
"That's true; they don't have a boat to take to the island." I realized that fact and I hope that they don't make off with our boats since they probably have no idea who they belong to.
I glance over my shoulder to see Lightning still on the couch, talking on her phone. "Lightning, we're going out now. We'd appreciate it if you could lock the door for us." I wasn't sure if she could hear me, but I could see her nod her head slightly. With that in mind I nudged Kairi out the door and closed it behind us. We walked to the pier where all the boats were docked in fifteen minutes and I could see Sora and Roxas standing around awkwardly like idiots. Just like Kairi said. I turn to tell her that she was right, but she had already seen them and she had her palm to her forehead.
I wave my hand at them, but they don't notice so I call out to them instead. "Sora! Roxas!"
They turn around in our direction and they wave back. I skip over to where Roxas was standing to say hi to him personally. He smiles at me. "Hey Naminé." I smile bashfully at his lopsided grin. "Hi Roxas." We stand around like this for a bit, looking at each other in silence when Sora decides to butt in.
"So are you guys going to tell us how we're supposed to get to that island?" He was pointing said direction. "Because I have no idea and those boats docked at the pier look like we could use them."
"For the record those boats are ours," Kairi appeared, "So let's go load your stuff on to them."
Sora made an 'O' shape with his mouth. I giggled at his childish expression. I was beginning to wonder if Sora was secretly still a five-year old kid on the inside.
They loaded their stuff on to the boats which consisted of water polo gear, some platters of who knows what, a mysterious black box and a guitar case.
We boarded the boats in pairs, Sora and Kairi, and me and Roxas. After we casted away from shore and a few minutes of steady rowing, we were far enough that I couldn't hear the other two. Roxas seemed pretty concentrated on rowing. I could tell from the blank expression that he wore. It was almost as if he was looking right through me. I waved a hand in front of him to see if he was daydreaming or something along the lines of that. His eyes widened by my gesture and he shook his head. I rest my hand by my side in relief.
"Are you okay? You seemed to be off somewhere else."
He continues to row, but not as steadily. The boat slows down a bit and I could see his arms go slack, but then suddenly he picks up the pace again. "It's nothing that you need to worry about."
I guess I shouldn't pry too much anyways.
We finally dock our boats at the pier and we unload all of the stuff brought over on to the small boardwalk leading up to the small tree house. Roxas dusted his hands onto his board shorts and sat down on the wooden platform.
"That's all the gear right?"
Kairi exited the tree house with Sora. "Do you think the food will be safe in the tree house for now?"
We hadn't expected the weather to be this warm outside. If the food isn't kept cool it might go bad.
I take out my phone to call a friend. "I see if Hope has a large cooler to bring over." I wait a couple of seconds before I'm actually connected. I hear a click on the other end, signalling that he had picked up.
"Hello?" I hear his soft voice greet me.
"Hey Hope, it's me Naminé. You're coming to the party today right?"
"Yeah, I am. I don't have to bring anything do I? You guys did tell me that you had everything covered."
"We did. Until now. I was wondering if you had a large cooler that you could bring over to the island when you come over in an hour."
"Why is that?"
"Well we have some food, namely raw food and we need a cooler to keep it cold. Also could you bring some ice as well?"
"I guess." I could hear some hesitation. It's a lot to ask of him at such late notice.
"Thank you so much. I'll see you in an hour?"
"Yeah, bye."
I end the conversation and I slip my phone back into my bag. I turn around to the others to tell them about Hope.
"So Hope is going to bring a cooler with ice to keep the stuff cold and Axel is going to bring a portable grill right?"
Roxas nods his head. "Yeah. He said he was going to cook later."
Of course Axel wants to cook. Him being a pyro and all. I asked him earlier in the week if he would stop his crazy antics for just one day. All he said was 'No guarantees'.
After thirty minutes of just talking and waiting, Selphie had finally arrived. She had with her a bunch of firewood logs and tiki torches. She didn't trust Axel to bring them since he might burn them for his wild tricks. Soon it was 12:00; high noon and Hope called me saying he was at the pier waiting so Sora went to row him over. The raw stuff was placed into the cold cooler and was stowed away underneath the little boardwalk.
All this time I didn't do much. I was leaning against a tree drawing anything and everything. When Hayner, Olette and Pence showed up they dropped off their share of the gear and went to splash around in the surf except Pence. He sat down beside me and was snapping pictures and commenting on how realistic my sketches were. That's how the early afternoon was spent up until Roxas decided to drag me out to the water.
"Hey I haven't changed yet!" I dug my heels into the sand, attempting to stop myself, but it hardly worked.
Roxas abruptly halted and I bumped into him. "True. Sorry about that," he said sheepishly. I didn't dare look up because I knew he was topless or else he wouldn't have pulled me out to the water in the first place. I snuck a peek and I saw exactly what I predicted. He was topless and I was blushing like mad. Luckily, I had already begun to turn away so he didn't see anything. I ran into the tree house with my bag in hand and I quickly changed into my bathing suit; the one that I loathed. Before I stepped out I put on a sari that I packed, that way I felt a bit more covered. I walked back out to the beach and I saw Roxas waving me over.
When I got close enough, I saw a puzzled expression on his face. "What's up with the face Roxas? Is something wrong?"
He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. Why are you wearing that when we're going into the water."
He had a point and I probably looked like a fool at that moment. "Yeah. I don't know why I wore that." I knew exactly why I wore that. I went back into the tree house and place the sari back into my bag. When I went to back to Roxas, he swept me off my feet. Not only was this too close for comfort- okay I'll admit that it was comfortable but that's not the point. The point is that he was swinging me towards the water.
"You ready for this Naminé?" He grinned at me crookedly like a mad scientist.
"What?! You are so not throwing me into the water!" I struggled in his arms, but his grip was too strong.
"One, two three!" Released me at the peak of the swing and I crashed into the water, making a loud splash.
I pushed myself up and I saw everyone's eyes on me. Before I could yell some profanities at Roxas, I saw Sora swing Kairi into the water too. Soon all the girls were soaking wet, walking back to the surf. Selphie even pushed Tidus into the water, who pushed her in earlier. Then I had idea to do the same thing.
"Oh Roxas?" I said in the sweetest, sing song voice I could.
"Yeah?" He turned around with a goofy grin on his face. Before he could say anything else I pushed him into the water. He didn't go crashing in; more like staggered, lost his balance and tipped over. It was pretty funny. When he came back up, his spikes were sagging down, but not plastered to his head either. I had to admit, he looked pretty cute, but when he looked up that's when it all faded away. He had this scowl on his face and his eyebrows were scrunched together in anger. Soon all of that was replaced by a devilish smile and before I could react he pulled me into the water again.
I was falling, but before I could crash on top of him, I stopped myself by putting my hands forward on either side of him. I had held my eyes shut the entire time. When I opened them, Roxas had his head turned and eyes shut as well. He cracked open one of eyes and looked at me.
I choke out a quiet 'hey'. He slowly turns his head so that he's looking at me. "Hey you," he said flashing me a brilliant white smile. Then I realized the incriminating position that I we were in. I was basically straddling Roxas. I felt my face flush with warmth so I looked away. I felt his hand move up to my forehead and he brushed a few strands of hair away from my face. I turn back slowly to meet his gaze and he was flushed red as well, except that he was grinning like a fool. Then our moment was broken when someone started calling out to us.
"Roxas! Naminé!"
Both me and Roxas turn our heads in the direction of the voice. I saw Sora down the beach waving his hands at us. He was standing by the volleyball court that Riku had set up once he got here.
"So you want to go play?"
"Not really. You can go play if you want to," I replied.
"Well the least you can do is let me and play," he remarked. I forgot that we were still in that awkward position so I quickly got off of him and I offered a hand to help him up. He grabbed hold of it and he pulled himself up lightly.
"So what are you going to do then?"
"I'll draw you guys playing? How about that?"
"But you've been drawing all day," he pointed out, "Don't you want to have fun?"
"I will so don't worry about me," I reassure, "Plus you'll get to see my amazing drawings."
"We'll see about that," he teased me. I stuck my tongue out at him, but he had already turned away towards the volleyball court. I sighed and I sat down at the same tree with me sketchbook and pencils. Pence had gone courtside to take some action shots of the guys playing so I was left alone. Roxas was teamed with Riku and Axel and they were playing against Sora, Tidus and Wakka.
I decided that I sketch Wakka's team since I could actually see their faces so I felt for a pencil on the ground, but all I felt was a hand that wasn't mine. I turned to see Hope that suddenly appeared beside me. I slightly flinched at his appearance, but I soon regretted it because he showed a signs of disappointment.
"I thought you'd be a bit happier to see me…" He trailed off.
I felt bad for doing what I did, but I couldn't help it. "No I am happy to see you. It's just that you startled me; that's all."
He dipped his head down. "I'm sorry about that. I should have told you before I sat down."
"Don't worry about it. We're here to have fun, isn't that right?" I try to alleviate the tension so I smile at him.
He looks up and smiles back. "Yeah, you're right." I felt the tension mood melt away and soon it's replaced by the relaxed air again. He leans over, looking at my blank page.
"What are you planning to draw?" I start to draw away from him, but I look down at my sketchbook, realizing there's nothing to hide.
"I was going to draw the guys playing volleyball." I pick up a pencil and I start to sketch some rough figures.
"Can I see it later?"
I don't want to show it to him because of our deal, but one little drawing wouldn't hurt.
"Sure. Why don't you go find something to do? This might take a while."
He nods his head and walks away.
I look over to where the boys are playing. Axel did an overhand serve and it went beyond the court. Roxas jabbed at him telling him that he was too tall to serve and that he should let him or Riku do it. Axel shrugged his shoulders and tossed the ball to Riku. He caught the ball and walked over to the end of the court. He gave the ball a few twirls and tossed it into the air. When he brought his hand down on the ball it went crashing into the other court creating a plume of sand to erupt from the ground. I sat there gawking at his strength. He looked pretty built, but I didn't know that he was a beast. Once the sand cleared, the boys seemed to have an argument in Riku's participation in the game. I shook my head at this and began to draw Tidus who was just shaking his head; hands on his hips.
I draw for a good hour before I finish it. I hold it away from myself to get a better look. I nod my head at my work. Not bad; not bad at all. I look around for Hope and I see that he's on the little islet at the drink bar that set up by Xion. I walk over there and I see her shaking a canister.
"Naminé! You want a drink?" She poured the canister contents into a plastic cup and pushed it to Hope. He took a sip of it and smiled.
"This is pretty good. In fact this is great!" It sounded like it was worth trying. "Naminé, should try one too."
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." I sat down in the chair beside Hope.
Xion clapped her hands together. "I promise you that you won't regret it!" She ducked down beneath the folding table and pulled out some bottles.
I pull out my sketchbook from my bag and I flip it to the drawing that I just made.
"I finished this a little while ago." I offered it to Hope.
He sets down his drink and takes the sketchbook from me. He takes a glance at it and his eyes grew wide.
"So what do you think?" I hope that I didn't rush it too badly. I wanted to finish it since I still wanted to draw some more.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. "Hope? Are you okay?"
He closed his mouth shut. "Yeah, I'm okay. This is incredible! I can see that you take pride in your drawing. It's supposed to be Tidus right?"
I nodded my head. "Yeah; I kind of rushed it though. You can still see sketch lines here and there."
He shook his head. "No that's fine. What matters is that you finished it so quickly and with such detail too." I felt myself grow a bit warm from the compliments, so I dipped my head down.
"Here you go! I hope you like it." A drink was presented in front of me by Xion.
"Thank you." I take the drink from her hands and I take a sip of it. It was a mix of peach and mango. There was another fruit there, but I couldn't name it. Altogether, it was a sweet and tangy mix with a yogurt-like texture.
"This is really good! I know there's mango and peach in it, but I feel likes there's something else as well."
Xion smiles brightly. "You have good taste! I put in some paopu juice in there. According to my dad, it supposed to be nice and sweet so I thought I give it a whirl."
"It certainly worked out fine. You said your dad told you about it? What does he do for a living?" I wonder if her dad was a bartender or something.
"My dad owns the Destiny's Blend store chain. He often tells me about his drink creations that he comes up with." She said all that as if it was nothing.
"That's really cool. I'm guessing you get a lot of samples to try right?"
"Yup. He always tries to get my opinion on them." Xion chuckled lightly. "Say, do you know about the legend about the paopu fruit?"
I nod my head. Every local on the island knows the legend. If two people share a paopu fruit together, their destinies become intertwined. Selphie thought it was romantic and wanted to try it someday. Kairi thought it was absolutely ridiculous. Secretly, I think that she wants it to be true.
"Of course." I continue to sip my drink, but I couldn't fully enjoy it because Hope was giving me and Xion a puzzled look.
He stopped drinking his juice to ask, "What's the legend?" I forgot that Hope isn't a local, but it seemed like he was fitting in just fine.
Xion leaned over the table and talked in a mysterious voice. "Legend has it, if two people share a paopu fruit together, their destinies become intertwined." Her voice reverted back to the way it was and let out a small laugh. "I think it's cute, but then again, it's just folklore."
Hope gave a small laugh as well. "What I think is that it makes your island sound old."
We all laughed at his witty comment. Over in the distance, I heard a loud whoosh.
We turn around to see Axel's hair on fire.
So what did you think? Leave your thoughts in reviews and don't forget to favourite and follow!
Until next time~
-Icey
