A Date to the Ball

Chapter 2

Melodious music filled the shimmering foyer as dozens of couples danced over the marbled floor. An entire orchestra was up on a stage, dark velvet fabric draped behind them as they played romantic classical melodies for the ball. Sweet and savory scents wafted through the air, coming from the long satin clothed tables that lined the walls, covered with scrumptious food.

Sora scanned his eyes over the festivities, absently listening to Princess Belle as she talked with Kairi, who was still at his side, their arms linked. The moment they had entered the ballroom, they had been whisked away to meet with each and every Princess of Heart. Sora was glad to see each of them safe and sound, however, he couldn't help but wish he could take Kairi to the dancefloor. Kairi's sweet laugh caught his attention, and putting on his brightest smile, he looked back forward towards the conversation.

"I'll have to give that book a read." Kairi told Belle, a laugh still in her voice. "Thank you for telling me about it!"

Belle recovered from her own laughter as she replied, "Of course!" She glanced at Sora, noticing the distant look in his eyes. She brought her hand to her mouth, lightly snickering as she informed Kairi. "It seems Sora is growing a bit restless, I've seen that look before. I better let you go." She sent Sora a knowing wink as she turned and left.

"Was I that obvious?" Sora asked, making Kairi giggle.

"It's alright," she assured him, turning and bringing him away from the other Princesses as she added with a whisper, "I was starting to feel the same way."

Sora smirked, looking out amongst the dancers as a song came to an end. The couples clapped politely and happily, causing Sora to come to a stop.

Kairi looked over at him in surprise. "Sora…?"

Taking in a sharp breath, he looked to her with a flush and a cheeky grin. "Kairi, dance with me!"

Her eyes widened for a moment, before her expression transformed into a smile. "Of course!" She chimed, her heart fluttering with nerves and excitement as Sora led them to the dance floor.

They mixed among the crowd, stopping to face each other. The jitters in Sora's heart became obvious as he awkwardly laughed and tried to get into position. Kairi laughed as well, grabbing his hand and placing it along her waist, before bringing her hand to his shoulder.

"I'm-uh, probably not going to be too good at this." Sora admitted, his grin wavering.

Kairi giggled, stepping just a bit closer to him. "I don't mind. It's… just nice to be here with you."

Sora darted his eyes from their feet to her face, his heart swelling at the warmth in her cheeks. "Y-Yeah," he agreed, hearing the music beginning to play.

He stepped forward, trying to keep his eyes from wandering to their feet. Kairi stepped back in sync, keeping them moving as they began to waltz along with the rest of the dancers. They twirled, almost floating around, not even taking mind that they weren't exactly moving to the rhythm of everyone around them. Sora's jitters began to melt away as he held Kairi a bit closer, everything else seeming to fade away. Their eyes were locked, their smiles growing into goofy grins until they started to laugh with each other.

Sora released his hold on Kairi's waist, putting up their clasped hands and spinning her around. Her dress shimmered from the graceful movement, completely mesmerizing as she came back into Sora's arms.

Song after song passed as they twirled and danced over the marbled floor. As they grew more comfortable, they began to talk over every little thing they could think of, laughing freely and allowing their true selves to show. As the fifth song came to a close, they finally came to a stop, following suit of the rest of the dancers and politely bowed to each other, struggling not to giggle.

Coming forward, Sora grabbed Kairi's hand, leading her off the dance floor. "That was great!" He chimed.

"It was," Kairi agreed, a bit of a sway still in her step. "Like a dream."

Sora smirked over at her, before noting, "Well, it is called the Ball of Dreams."

Kairi giggled, "I suppose that's true."

They walked in silence for a moment, absently making their way to the food covered tables. Sora looked down at their clasped hands, his heart fluttering at how comfortable her hand felt in his. "I'm… really glad we got to do this, Kai."

"I am, too." Kairi met her eyes with his, a sweet smile on her lips. "We haven't gotten a lot of alone time together since I started training."

Sora let out a breathy laugh, his face warming as he broke their locked gaze. "Yeah, we've both been really busy. Um…" he rubbed the back of his neck, "We should ask Master Yen Sid if we can have more missions together."

"I'd like that," Kairi squeezed his hand. "But... " she giggled a bit nervously, "I wouldn't mind having alone time with you that wasn't part of a mission."

Sora's heart jumped, "Y-yeah?" He looked back at her, their eyes meeting and the blush on their cheeks deepening. His smile grew into a grin, "I'd like that, too!"

Kairi kept her gaze on him, even as Sora looked back forward. Taking in a breath, she suddenly went up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss against his cheek. Sora froze, his entire face turning a deep red as his eyes widened. Without waiting for his response, Kairi tightened her hand around his and ran forward, giggling.

"K-Kairi!" Sora stammered with a laugh, being pulled behind her.

She stopped in front of a long table filled with all sorts of royal food. Releasing Sora's hand, she grabbed a plate and spun around, handing it to Sora with a smirk. Sora gave her a look as he took the plate, shaking his head with a chuckle as they began grabbing tasty treats.

They tried to get a bit of everything, breaking out laughing when Sora inevitably put a couple carrots in his mouth and pretended he was a walrus. Once their plates were full, they found a more secluded corner and enjoyed their meals, the previous nervous tension between them whisked away once more.

Once they were finished, they made their way outside to the castle garden. The sun was completely gone, the moon full and bright amongst the blanket of stars. Their arms were locked as they walked, taking in the calming atmosphere around them. Coming up to a stone fountain, Kairi unlinked her arm with Sora's and sat along the edge. She carefully took off one of her shimmering gloves before gently dipping her fingertips into the crystal water.

"We should be heading back soon," she commented with a soft voice, her eyes focused on the ripples in the water.

Sora felt his heart sink, realizing they would need to head back to reality. Swallowing, he nodded, "Yeah, you're probably right…" he came and sat beside her on the fountain, absently watching her play with the water.

"I've had a wonderful time," she told him, looking up with a sweet, yet sad smile.

Sora met her smile, but it fell as he looked back to the water. "There's… part of me that wishes this could last forever."

"Me too," she admitted, looking him over as the butterflies inside her fluttered. "You know… growing up, I always loved our friendship." She averted her gaze when Sora looked up at her. "I never wanted it to change… everything was perfect."

"Yeah, me too." Sora agreed with a light laugh, he smiled fondly at the memory. "You even told me to never change right before we left the island."

Kairi laughed softly, "I thought that as long as we stayed the same… nothing else would matter."

Sora looked back to the water, seeing the reflection of them under the beautiful night sky. "Do… Do you still feel like that?" When she didn't respond, he brought his eyes up to her, surprised to see her face covered with a darkened flush.

"I…" she paused, feeling like her heart was about to burst out of her chest. "I'd like it to be more now, I think…" she stumbled the words out, her heart jumping to her throat as she groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Oh, don't listen to me," she squeaked, her voice muffled by her hands. "I-I'm being ridiculous!"

"No you're not, Kai," Sora laughed lovingly, gently placing his hands along her wrists. His heart swelled from her words, but even more so from her reaction afterwards. He pulled away her hands from her face, smiling sweetly at her blushed cheeks. Without thinking, he leaned forward and placed a short kiss on the tip of her nose. "I...I feel the same way." he confessed.

Her widened eyes softened, a warmth spreading through her as she felt herself nearly melting merely from the way he looked at her. Closing her eyes, she leaned forward, meeting her lips with his. Sora gasped at first, an electricity sparking through him as his mind scrambled to decipher what was happening. Kairi pulled away within a moment, with a bit of embarrassment. Before she could get too far, Sora brought one of his hands to her cheek, turning her back towards him and closed the distance between them.

His lips barely grazed her own, as if giving her full control to pull back if she wished, but she instead kissed him back without hesitation. Sora's thumb gently grazed against her cheek as if she were a treasure he was worried of damaging. They could feel the warmth growing between them, matching the explosion of nerves and emotions that they were finally sharing this moment.

They hesitantly pulled apart, gazing into each other's eyes until they both started to smile. Sora's eyes drifted back to her lips, already wanting more. Just as they were leaning in, a sudden vibration came from Sora's pocket. They paused, Sora letting out a huff of breath as he was forced to pull away. Reaching into his pocket, Sora pulled out a flat, round silver device that was glowing blue in the center. Pressing down on the light, a short hologram of Riku appeared, crossing his arms.

"Hey Riku," Sora greeted, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"Exactly how long am I supposed to cover for you?" Riku skipped his greeting, "Mickey's starting to get a bit worried. What sort of secret mission are you two do-" his voice cut off as he saw Kairi scooting closer to Sora. He looked her over, seeing the formalwear and fancy hair. Letting out a breath, he sent Sora a look. "Didn't you say you had a super important secret mission?" Riku recalled. "I don't think that usually includes a date night."

Sora sheepishly chuckled, "Uhm, well, you see… I might have been a biiiit off."

Kairi giggled, "Sorry Riku, Cinderella wanted us to attend a ball to celebrate the return of the Princesses of Hearts." She glanced up at Sora, giving him a look. "Sora said he'd call to make sure it was alright."

"Oh he did," Riku sighed, "Just under false pretences." He shook his head at Sora before looking back to Kairi. "You look great though, Kai. I hope you had a good time."

"Why thank you," Kairi giggled again, "And we did."

"We're dating now!" Sora blurted out in a small fit of possible jealousy.

Kairi's face warmed as Riku began to laugh. "Good to know, Sora. Took you two long enough."

"Y-yeah well, now you know," Sora stammered, mentally berating himself for blabbing that out. Clearing his throat, he told him. "Um, but, we'll be back soon, Riku. Sorry about the trouble."

"It's fine," Riku waved him off. "Just bring me back some cake or whatever they have at those sorts of things."

Sora laughed, "Will do!"

Riku smirked before cutting the call, leaving Sora and Kairi once again alone.

"H-hey," Sora rubbed the back of his hair, "I'm sorry about blurting it out like that."

"It's alright," Kairi giggled, reaching for his hand. "I really should be expecting it, especially when Riku's around."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked, making Kairi only laugh harder.

Kairi stood and pulled on Sora's hand, "Come on, let's go get Riku his cake."

His faked offended expression melted into a smile as he stood and planted a sweet kiss on her cheek. "Yeah, come on."