AN: Got a cute little chapter here for you! 3 A bit of fluff, a bit of emotion. A bit of...Heart, you could say? :) Got kinda teary eyed writing this one...
"Dad, I appreciate what you're trying to do for me - but I need to go back to school. I'm going to fall behind. Sora's mom is letting him go back!"
Dad sighed, spreading his hands at her. "I'm not Sora's mother, Kairi, and I don't think you should be going back just yet. Can't you give it...even a week, honey? Please? What's the big rush?"
Kairi sighed too. "I suppose there isn't any real rush. I just...I fought so hard to get this back - to get back to normal - and now I just want to...get back to normal already."
"I understand that. But there's something to be said for not throwing yourself headfirst into a situation you might not be...as prepared for as you think you are. If it has been that long for you - do you even remember where you were at before, in terms of your schoolwork?"
Kairi struggled, then gave up. She flushed. "Okay, no, I don't..." she admitted, muttering.
"And there is Xion to consider now, too," dad went on. "She can't just start going to school without all the paperwork sorted out. For schooling, and for...everything else. I haven't even had a chance to discuss that with her - with both of you."
"I don't remember any paperwork when you first took me in," Kairi responded.
Dad gave her an amused look. "Kairi: you were five - of course you don't remember."
"Fine..." Kairi sighed again. "Good point. Okay, well, Xion and I will be...up in my room, I guess."
"Just take things slow."
"Alright..."
After four more, whole entire days of "taking things slow" Kairi got sick of it.
Even more sick of it when she went to visit Sora's place after he got home from school, and she found him and Riku just leaving down the path.
Sora stopped at the sight of her, flushed. "Oh, hey! Sorry, Kairi, but now isn't really the best time to hang out. I've kinda got to get to the dojo..." he said, apologetic.
"Yeah - we're going to be late enough as it is," Riku added.
"Let's not wait, then," Kairi stated.
"Huh?" Sora blinked at her in confusion.
"Are you coming to watch us, then?" Riku asked.
Kairi glared. She still hated that he couldn't see it. "No - I'm joining you guys! I'm going to sign up," she declared.
"Awesome!" Sora beamed. "It's going to be so cool having the three of us together there, now!"
"Yeah, cool..." Riku murmured, shaking his head. "Now can we get going?"
"Hey, what about Xion?" Sora asked Kairi, frowning. "Is she back home...?"
Kairi frowned too. But then she flashed a smile. "She is; she's with dad, she'll be fine."
Sora and Riku somehow shared a look despite one of them being blind now - that boy's bond they'd always had - and then they turned and took off running together.
Kairi huffed and hurried to keep up with them.
Xion sat rigid in her seat at the kitchen table.
Kairi still wasn't back yet...
Hadn't Kairi said she was going to go ask Sora to come spend time with them at her house...? Where was she? Why hadn't she come back? Why was Xion alone here now...? With Kairi's dad. Why had Kairi left her with him? What was Xion going to do? What if she messed everything up and made him think she was too much trouble and he got rid of her-
"Xion?"
She startled, glancing up to find the man sitting down at the table with her. "Yes?"
"Since it seems like something must have come up for Kairi," the man spoke, kind and slow. "instead of being stuck in this house like this together, what would you say to going out to the pier and doing some fishing? Given what day it is, Kairi probably decided to go and watch Sora and Riku at the swordsmanship dojo...or maybe she decided to join in, now, considering she's..." He trailed off, shaking his head, a strange look on his face. "Either way, she's not likely to be back for a couple of hours."
Fishing? Xion knew this one! She'd heard Sora and Kairi talk about it before - that they'd done it with their families before. A popular island activity! Either for getting food to eat, or for fun. But...even though she knew about it didn't mean she knew how to actually...do it. But what could she do, what could she say? Kairi would want her to say yes, and she had to say yes or Kairi's dad might not like her or want her around! And Kairi wanted Xion to like her dad...
"OK," Xion said.
He smiled at her.
She smiled back, as best she could.
"Alright," he said, standing up. He went to the fridge and poured out some of that nice fruit juice into a glass, which he then set on the table in front of Xion. "I'm just going to go and gather up everything we need - you can sit and drink this if you want. It won't be more than a few minutes."
Xion nodded, quickly picking up the cup and taking a long sip.
He must have been happy with her, because he left her without saying anything more about it.
Xion sank into her chair in relief, taking some more sips.
It really did taste good...
Xion hadn't finished drinking her juice by the time Kairi's dad came back, with a little box in one hand and two long, thin poles with string on them in the other.
She panicked at the mistake and drank it all immediately, jumping up and saying she was ready...for fishing!
He just told her it was fine, and he led the way out of the house. Xion followed him quickly.
Xion focused on just keeping up - focusing on her feet in the dirt.
"Have you ever gone fishing before, Xion?"
She raised her eyes from the ground, startling. "No," she said honestly. "But Kairi's talked about it," she added swiftly.
"Has she?" Kairi's dad responded. "She must have missed it..."
Xion didn't reply. She didn't know what to say. And she thought it was safer to say nothing...
"When she was little, I used to take her out like this - fairly often," the man continued speaking. He glanced at Xion, smiling at her again. "Especially those first few years, after she started living with me. It was the best way to get her to relax, open up. Not that she always talked, but...it usually worked for us. Of course, as she's gotten older, we've stopped doing it as often. But every now and then, when she has something serious on her mind, some big worry...she'll still come to me and ask if we can go out for a little trip. When she asks to take the boat out is when I know it's really something to be concerned about."
He looked at Xion again. "I know you're not her - you're her sister; however you...came to be - but I hope that maybe...it can be something to help you in the same way. But, if not - if fishing isn't your thing - we can always do something else. Anything you'd like. Anything you're interested in, anything that...you're comfortable with, that relaxes you."
Xion nodded quickly. "I've never...done fishing before. But Kairi and Sora always did say it was fun...and I'm supposed to be trying to do...more things. Hobbies. Normal things. Like normal girls. I'm supposed to be...living normally. So I...want to do this. I want to try."
"Alright. That's good to hear. That is good, Xion. Well, we'll see if you take a liking to it or not. It's okay if you don't. Not everyone likes fishing, even here - and that's fine."
Xion nodded again. Was it really fine if she didn't like it...? Or if she wasn't good at it? If he was telling her that...then the answer had to be yes? That wouldn't make him...upset with her, would it? She could fail at this, she could...it wouldn't risk her...
Her place here...
They walked around and between the houses, onto the beach. Kairi's dad took her along the beach, to the long, wooden pier stretching out from it. They walked down it together, to the very end of it. He sat down there, right on the edge, setting that little box down. He set the two fishing poles down beside him, too. Then he looked at her.
"You can sit down - here," he told her, gesturing.
Xion moved forward, seating herself next to him on the edge of the pier. She gripped the little bit of the wooden pole sticking up from beneath the pier. She stared out across the waters. The play island was there, in the distance...
She sat there, for a long few minutes, her eyes on that little island.
Kairi's dad was doing things with that box and the fishing poles, beside her, the whole time. Silent.
She was glad about that...
Until-
"Xion?"
"Yes?" She turned to him quickly.
The man was holding one of the fishing poles out to her. It was a lot smaller than his. On the end of the string, dangling from it, there was a little fish?
"You caught a fish?" Xion tried to smile. "You're fast at this..."
He stared back at her a moment. And then he laughed. "Oh, no! Xion - this is...it's a toy. It's fake. Plastic. It's called the lure, or the bait. It's what's going to help us catch the real fish. Here...why don't you take it..."
Xion took the pole in her hands clumsily, looking down at her lap. She took a breath and looked the pole over. The handle was strange. It had a little contraption sticking out of it, with a little handle. She risked glancing back at the man. Risked asking (she just didn't want to sound even more stupid), "What do I do with it?"
He smiled at her. "Well, now...fishing is a fairly simple activity. But there are some little things you might want to watch out for. Ahem. So you want to hold it more...one hand down low, on the actual handle. And you see that little crank there? The - lever sticking out there? You want to keep one hand there, too..."
Xion tried her best to obey the instructions, gazing down at her pole with immense concentration. It was like learning to use her Keyblade. All of Master Terra's training sessions. All the little adjustments and ways to move...
"Good," said Kairi's dad. "Just like that. Now, to actually fish, you just..." He held up his own fishing pole. He drew it back, far, far back past own body. Then he gave it a slow, exaggerated swing forward. "You do that, see? Draw it back, and then you cast it forward. Let it loose. It'll go out into the water, and the lure will find a place there. And hopefully...some hungry fish will come by and take the bait. So, how about you give it a try? Or do you want to watch me do it first, again?"
"I- I'd like to watch you first," Xion decided, watching the man closely now. She had to get it right, her first try! She couldn't be a failure.
"Alright. So...just like this...draw it back...and let it loose." Kairi's dad did the same thing as before, but faster, stronger - and Xion watched as the line of thin string and that plastic yellow fish flew out over the water. It landed with a splash, far out from them. "Nothing to it, right? And it's fun. So...now you try."
Xion nodded, looking over her own pole as she copied him. She raised it up and moved it back, raising her arms...and she brought it forward with all her might, like swinging her Keyblade! The line of string flew forward- and whipped almost straight down, smacking into the water not too far in front of her?
Xion frowned, ducking her head with despair.
"That was good," the man's voice came to her, warm and casual. "Good...good bit of power behind it. A lot of power. But a little too much. You don't want to bring it...straight down like that, it's more of a...an arc. Like - like this. Here..." He started winding that little lever on the side of the pole, and Xion watched the string and the little fake fish come back to him. Back onto the pole to hang there. The man cast out his line again, slower, and it sailed out far. "Try...more like that. A- sweeping motion. Can you give it a try?"
Xion frowned, looking down at the pole in her hands again.
"Would it be all right if I gave you a little help, honey?"
Xion startled, turning to stare at him. He'd really just called her that? That word? "Honey?" It was a word of affection, she knew that. Aerith and Tifa had thrown around those kinds of words during her week in Traverse Town. And she'd...come to like them...but - but this was Kairi's dad, and he'd only ever called Kairi that word. He'd only ever...used it for her...
Not for Xion.
Because Xion wasn't...
But he just had...used it for her...too. So did that really mean...? Could it mean...?
Xion felt...the strangest feeling inside her chest just then. It felt like- like her Heart was being squeezed by a fist. Squeezed and smooshed and it was just going to- to explode or- or pour out all stretched and gooey and she...was going to...
To what?
She breathed in, quickly, and let it out again. It was- uneven. Shaking. Why- why was it- why was she- what was-
She blinked, staring down at the pole in her hands. She was holding it so tight now, and it was- shaking too?
Why?
What was the matter with her?
What was wrong with her?
What was...
"Y-yes..." Xion whispered, her voice tight and choked. Why was it so hard to even get one word out? That one...just that one... "I want help. I don't know how to- do this- I don't know how to- I just- I want to-"
"Okay, alright. So let me show you..." His voice again. His hands on her hands. He was moving her arms, moving the pole for her. Not even Master Terra had ever - helped her do any of her moves in this way. He'd never actually moved her like this, touched her arms or anything like that. But Kairi's dad...was. Were things different here, that way? Or were- families- different that way? From - non-family? Was it...special?
But Kairi was special, she was his daughter, and he was her dad...
Xion wasn't...
"...Okay, we just draw it back, and we give it a nice, long swing...like this now!"
Xion's arms were being moved forward, her hands - and the fishing pole's line flew out.
It flew out so far, into the water.
It hit with a little splash.
Kairi's dad let her go. He let her hands go, her arms, and he sat back from her and took up his own pole again.
Xion stared down at her hands. Her hands that still almost felt...?
"Now comes the fun part," Kairi's dad was speaking again. "The waiting game. We sit out here, like this, and we hope a fish takes a bite. When it does, we'll be able to catch it. You saw how, earlier, I used this little handle to reel the line back in?" He indicated it for her.
Xion nodded quickly. "Yes!"
"Right. When a fish bites our fake little fish out there, we'll pull them in that way. Right up out of the water."
"And then we eat it?"
Kairi's dad looked at her. He nodded. "You want to eat fish today?"
"I...yes? I've eaten - lots of different food before," Xion explained. "I- I want to eat more?"
"Alright. We can do that. If we make a catch, we can take one back to the house with us, and I can make that up for dinner for you."
Xion...smiled at the man. She focused on her fishing pole, though, quickly. She gripped it and put one hand on the little handle for the string. For the fake fish out there. She kept her eyes on it, unblinking.
For minutes that passed, next.
She thought she saw Kairi's dad glance at her a few times, but...he never said anything.
Minutes turned into...half an hour? And maybe, longer, then, after...
And then he did speak again. Kairi's dad.
"Xion...?"
"Yes?" she said, turning to him instantly.
"I- while we're out here- I think there's something I...have to talk about with you. Nothing bad. Okay?"
"Okay..."
"Do you want to be here?" he asked her quietly. "To live here - to go to school here. To...be a part of this family, living in this home together."
"Yes!" Xion said firmly, unthinking.
"I have to ask. I-" Kairi's dad fell silent a moment. "With Kairi, it was different," he spoke on, warm and soft. "She was...very little, when she came into my life. Even though I asked her, just the same as I'm asking you - it was different. If she had said no, if she hadn't wanted to...Well, you've seen where Selphie lives, haven't you?"
"Yes..."
"Right. If she had told me she didn't want to live with me, she would have gone to live there instead - just like Selphie. Until either another family was able to take her in, or...or maybe not. Not that it's anything bad, or wrong, or..." He sighed, looking off into the distance. Across sparkling water. "But her life would have been different. So how do you...want your life to be, Xion? Do you want it to be here with us, or - maybe over there with Selphie? Either way, you'll be going to the same school, and Kairi and I would both love to have you over every day, regardless. It wouldn't be too different...but that choice is yours."
"Kairi wants me to."
"But do you?"
"Do you?" Xion whispered.
He glanced over at her, surprise on his face.
She ducked her head quickly, clutching her hands at her chest (forgetting she had a fishing pole in her hands! It smacked her in the chest). "Sorry, I-!"
"No. It's a fair question. It's a good one." Kairi's dad nodded, smiling at her. "Truthfully, I would love to have you right here. I've thought about that, more and more as Kairi's grown - about adding another kid to the family. When I was younger, it wasn't something I wanted - kids. And my...my wife was the same. But, then I lost her, and years later, Kairi came into my life, and...it's become one of the best things I've ever had or done. Something I think now that I couldn't live without. I don't see how I did, before now." He laughed, shaking his head. "I would love for you to join our family, Xion. That's the truth. I want to adopt you, so you can be with your sister. But I don't want you to feel pressured into it. Into making any...decisions you wouldn't want to."
Xion sat silently, lowering the fishing pole.
"Xion...I can't pretend to understand it, but I know that you're...not exactly your age. Mentally - in your head - you're..." Kairi's dad fell silent again. "Kairi's said you don't know...a lot of things. Basic things. So maybe it's difficult for you to understand all of this talk now. Maybe...it's just confusing, or overwhelming?"
"It is," Xion blurted.
"Okay. Alright. Well, how about this, then? Why don't we give it...a month? Another four weeks or so? You can keep living with us, you can get used to things. And then, after that month, we'll talk about adoption again. And, depending on how you're doing by then, you could even start going to school. How does that sound? No rush, no pressure. Just...get used to things and take your time."
"Ok. A month," Xion agreed. "That sounds - good?"
"Good. Because, Xion, whether you're part of this family or not...Kairi loves you - I can see it - and all I want for you...for her...is for you to be happy. Wherever you are, however your life goes. I want you to feel comfortable with it, and to be happy with it. Because even if you're not my daughter...you're her sister. Okay?"
"Ok..." Xion whispered. Suddenly, she realized that that strange feeling was back again. But what was it? What did it mean, inside her? Her Heart...? She looked over at Kairi's dad, watching him as he focused on his fishing. Her lips parted, her throat moved- "No!"
"No?"
"I don't want to wait. I want this. I shouldn't be scared, if you- if you care and love me just like Kairi does! Like all my friends do, like our Masters, like- and I want that! I want to be with my sister forever, I want to be...with family forever! Kairi already adopted me; you have to adopt me too! That's- all there is to it, right?!"
Xion breathed quickly, staring at the man as he stared back at her, his expression...
Where had that come from? Just...from the Heart? Again...? Concepts and ideas and things even she didn't understand fully about...herself...? But that her Heart knew...?
Kairi's dad...his eyes...he smiled again. "Okay. If that's what you want, we'll get it started for you. It's still going to take a few weeks, but...we can start now. Tomorrow, or- the day after? We can do that for you. I can do that for you. And we'll tell Kairi."
"I want that," Xion said firmly, looking the man in the eyes.
She really did.
More than anything she'd ever wanted before in her short little life so far.
For reasons she couldn't have even explained to herself.
She just...knew it.
AN: Next chapter is worse... Muhahaha... :)