After a day of training, and after having helped Xion figure out how to approach her "Even problems" recently, Kairi decided it was time to deal with her own.
She let her Keyblade vanish, looking across the training grounds of Land of Departure. She crossed the grass and approached Master Aqua.
"Master?" she spoke quietly.
"Yes?" said Aqua, giving Kairi her full attentions.
Kairi took a breath, raising her hands to her chest - to covet the pendant necklace of hers. "I was wondering if I could ask you about something."
"Of course! What is it?" Aqua smiled.
Kairi cast a furtive glance around herself. "Could we talk more privately?"
Aqua nodded, and together they left the training grounds behind. They walked the mountainside paths, until they were a good, winding distance away from anyone else. Aqua led her over to a little alcove in the side of the mountain, then turned to face Kairi patiently. Expectantly.
"I wanted to ask you..." Kairi began. "Is there any kind of magic that can help you to...find people?"
Aqua looked at her in surprise. Then, she nodded. "It's not my area of expertise - but I've come across plenty of references in my studies before. There are all kinds of magicks that can be used to locate people."
"Even across worlds?"
"It would need to be either very powerful, or given a bit of a helping hand," Aqua mused. "Tracing a connection, or using strong emotions, or a familiar item to establish a link-"
"A familiar item?"
"Yes. Say, if you had something that used to be owned by the person you were searching for," Aqua spoke on, in her "lecturing voice".
"Can it be anything, or does it have to be something special? Like something they had for a long time, or that they had a strong attachment to?"
"Potentially, any item could be used, but something they had a strong attachment to would be more preferable, yes - it would make it a lot easier," Aqua told her. She paused, frowning at her. "Kairi, I wouldn't want to pry, but I know you're not just asking me all of this out of some...scholarly interest or curiosity. We wouldn't have come all the way over here, just for that."
"Am I that terrible of a student?" Kairi tried to joke, giving a half-hearted grin. "I've gone outside my studies before, Master."
Aqua gave a thin smile in return, shaking her head. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me anything - except, of course, if it would invite some kind of danger onto you...or any of the rest of us."
Kairi glanced away, toying with the necklace now between her fingers. She bit her lip hard, before finally coming to a decision. She looked up at Aqua again. "I'm hoping I can find my- my birth mother."
Aqua blinked at her. "Oh...I see," she said softly. "Well, I would be more than happy to help you with that, Kairi."
Kairi felt a welling of shame. After everything they'd been through together, after discovering their special, shared memory of the past, and the bond they'd forged since reuniting again at the Door To Darkness...how could Kairi not trust this woman? How could she not trust anyone else in her life with this, came the guilty thought. Why had she still not told dad, or Sora, or Xion? Not a word about grandmother's house, or the photo album, or what she'd discovered with Namine's help...
What was she even afraid of? Ugh, she was acting like Riku! Too much of a scaredy-cat to be vulnerable, or intimate, to share in trust and the bonds she'd made! But why was that? Why was she keeping this so close to her chest? And here Aqua was, showing her that if she just opened up, those people in her life could help her with this. No, she wasn't acting like Riku - she was sliding back into old habits of her own. All those years growing up on the islands, never telling Sora or Riku about what she remembered of her past - of other worlds. She should have shared it all with them - they, who were so willing to help her. To make a poor excuse for a raft and go on a crazy adventure, all for her sake!
Because they cared.
Kairi sighed, and she lifted the necklace over her head, and she held it out to Aqua. The woman took it carefully, smiling down at it. "This necklace used to belong to my mother," she told Aqua. "A while back, I went to Namine for help with searching my own memories - trying to find out why I was living with my grandmother, back in Radiant Garden, instead of with any sort of...parents. We had to go pretty far back, but we found plenty of memories of her - of me, with her. It was when I was a baby. But, a month after I was born, she...she left me. And she left this necklace behind with me, too. She had it on in every memory we saw, so it has to have been special to her - right? It has to be something I can use...to find her again now."
Aqua touched a finger to the pendant, caressing it - giving it a little nudge. Her eyebrows furrowed. A lilac glow shimmered in Aqua's palms as she cupped the necklace in her hands now. Then, she held it back out to Kairi. "I think you're right: I think this is something we can use. Although, as I've said, scrying magic and that sort of thing isn't really my specialty...but I'll learn what I can, and we'll see what we can do - okay? I can't promise any results, not on the first try, but...we will try."
"Okay. Thank you, Aqua." Kairi hesitated, then stepped in to quickly hug her.
"Of course. Just give me a week or two to brush up on the right books," Aqua smiled, pulling away. "Locator magic can't do much harm if it goes wrong, unlike battle magic, so it shouldn't be too much trouble to delve into."