A/N: I really hope SOPA is shot down again so you guys can read this. Anyway sorry it took so long to update.

Birthday Gift I

KAIRI: Big Brother works so hard. Maybe too hard. Lately he's been coming home all tired. But no matter how tired he is, he still makes himself play with me, even if only for a shorter time then usual. He makes me so happy, but I can't help but worry for him. His birthday is coming up soon. I want to give him something special.

Four and a half months since joining the Recruits.

After displaying his new Spellblade ability, Kai spent three weeks working out the kinks in is Flametongue technique. Once he got the hang of it, he started working on the ice Spellblade technique, Icebrand. Training to master this art has resulted in him returning home more exhausted then usual.

Because Kai hasn't been able to hang out with his sister as much as he used to, Kairi has been spending time in her own way. If she's not hanging out with her friends or begging Grandma Elise to tell her that story again, she's busy on the floor drawing pictures with crayon and paper. Sometimes she drew to express herself, whether it's her love for her brother, Grandma or her friends, or, one time, she drew about how much she missed having Kai around. Though recently she started working on something special, something she doesn't want Kai to see yet.

In her room, she had been drawing on a few white pieces of paper cut into the shape of water droplets. On one of them, a sword was drawn with black crayon. An orange flame was drawn on a second drop. She was in the middle of drawing something with a red crayon on a third one when there was a knock on her door. She quickly put her stuff into a box and said, "Come in!" In walked her brother. "Oh, hey Kai! Back already?"

Kai scratched the back of his head. "They...gave me the day off." Indeed, Laguna felt Kai was overworking himself with his Spellblade Art, and ordered him to take the day off and spend time with his sister.

"Really?!" the little girl said excitedly. "Want to do something today?"

Kai spent the day in the Town Square, watching his sister swinging around his old toy sword. She had stumbled yet again, when she was prevented from falling down by someone unexpected.

"Whoa! Careful there kid. Don't want to hurt yourself."

Kairi looked up and saw a teenaged boy with fire red hair and green eyes and wore an orange coat and a yellow scarf. The boy helped her regain her balance. "Oh, I'm sorry," the girl said.

"Eh, don't worry about it. But really, a kid like you should be more careful with those things, toy or not."

Kai had gotten out of his seat and approached them, just to make sure this stranger doesn't try anything funny with his sis.

"I'll will. I'm Kairi, by the way. And this is my big brother, Kai."

"The name's Lea. Got it memorized?"

"Mmhmm."

The boy now named Lea then turned to Kai. "Cute little sis you got there, eh Kai?"

Kai felt a little uncomfortable with the way he was talking about his sister.

"Hey! What's with that look?!" Lea was insulted by the subtle glare Kai was giving him. "If you got something to say, say it already."

Kairi then hold on to Kai's hand. "Easy, Big Bro. Lea doesn't mean any harm." Kai then calmed down. The little girl then bowed to Lea. "Sorry, he's a little overprotective of me."

"I can see that." Lea said looking at the sword strapped to left of Kai's waist. "Is that sword real? What's a kid like you doing with a dangerous weapon like that?"

"Perhaps he's the one rumored to be the youngest ever accepted into the Recruits?" a voice said. They turn to see a another teenaged boy approaching. He had sky blue hair, green eyes and wore a blue jacket with a crescent moon on the left side of it's chest.

"What?" asked Lea. "Really, Isa? You don't seriously think a shrimp like him is a part of the Guard, do ya?" He then heard what sounded like sliding metal, a before he knew it, he felt steel on his neck, causing him to stiffen. Kai had moved his sword from it's sheath to Lea's neck in the blink of an eye.

The boy called Isa smirked and said, "Careful what you say around a guy with a sword. You just might regret it."

"I'll get that memorized," replied Lea.

Kai, figuring he proved his point, move his katana off Lea neck and back into it's sheath.

"Alright, Showoff, if you really are one of the Recruits then prove it to me by fighting me." Lea said as he pulled out two frisbees with a grinning fireball design on them.

"Hey, what are you doing picking fights for-" Kairi was cut off when Kai grabbed the toy sword out of her hands and pointed it at Lea.

Lea smirked. "Not much of a talker, are you? Oh well. Let's make this fun!"

"Bring it," Kai finally said.

The two then went at it. Lea was attacking relentlessly, while Kai just stay on the defense. Lea couldn't even land an single hit on the rookie. He tried to throw one frisbee at him, but Kai knocked it away. Lea then rushed in with his other frisbee before Kai just knocked the it out of his hand and pointed his toy sword in his face.

Lea was startled at Kai's display. "I-I was going easy on you!" he said.

"Lea, you should really stop making excuses every time you lose." Isa said as he walked back up to him. "From where I stood, he was the one holding back."

"Oh come on, Isa!" Lea said in disapproval.

Kai had removes the toy sword from Lea's face.

"Oh that's nothing," Kairi said walking back up to them. "You should see him when sets his sword on fire! He's awesome!"

The duo was taken aback by that info. "R-really? He can do that?" Lea asked.

To answer his question Kai handed Kairi back his toy sword, unsheathed his katana, and activated his Flametongue.

Lea grave an impressed whistle. "Now that is a cool trick. I guess they let you in the Guard for a reason."

Kai doused the flames and sheathed his sword again. "You weren't too bad yourself," Kai actually said. "A little more practice and you could join us."

Lea actually took interest in what he just said.

"Well, we'd better get going Lea," said Isa.

"Alright," answered Lea. He then turned to Kai. "Well, it's been fun. I'll catch you later, Kai."

Kai nodded in response as the duo walked away. He then decide to take his sister for some ice cream. Meanwhile, Lea and Isa were having their own conversation.

"Still hard to believe that kid is one of the Guard," Lea said.

"It just goes to show you can't judge a swordsman by his age," replied Isa. "He must really be something to be let in."

"You know, I kinda like him. But still, being topped by a kid like him is something I just can't let go," Lea thought for a second, then smirked. "You know what? I'm gonna join the Guard myself."

Isa was taken aback by that declaration. "What brought this on all of a sudden?"

"If that shrimp can make it, then I'm sure I have as good a chance to make it in as him. Besides, it's got to be better than trying to sneak into the castle only to get tossed out by the guards."

Isa thought for a second. "I suppose. But are you sure you're up to it?"

Lea made a wide grin. "Hey! How hard could it be? Gotta make a name for myself somehow, right? This should really help in making people remember me. Besides, I wanna give that whole flaming weapon thing a try myself."

Isa smirked. "Well, they scout for new Recruits once every six months. And I believe the next run in another month and a half. If we practice more till then, we could have a shot."

It was Lea's turn to be taken aback. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're gonna join too, Isa?"

"Someone has to keep eye on your obnoxious brain, Lea."

"Ha ha. Very funny."

A couple weeks later, Kai had patrol duty with Lightning. He was told to go straight home after he was done, which was odd to the young swordsman. Another thing he thought was odd was that Lightning had requested to go with him. He didn't question it though. They walked in the door to see all the lights were turned off. Confused, he searched the wall for a light switch. He founded it and turned in on. And the second he did...

"SURPRISE!" shouted a few people as they jumped out of their hiding places.

Kai nearly jumped in surprise. The people he saw in the living room include his supervisor, Laguna, Squall(who was more dragged out of his spot by Laguna), Rinoa, Bartz, Zidane, Tifa, Cloud(who was more dragged out of his spot by Tifa), and Aerith. Lightning's sister, Sera, was there too. Kai looked at the ceiling and saw a red banner with white writing that read, Happy 13th Birthday Kai. The boy face palmed in embarrassment. He had been so focused on his training that he forgot his own birthday. Lightning watched Kai reaction with amusement.

Out of the kitchen walked Grandma Elise, who was carrying a rectangular cake covered with white frosting with green edges, Happy Birthday Kai written in red, and thirteen red lit candles. Next to her was little Kairi, Lord Ansem, and Ienzo. Everyone, except Cloud and Squall, had smiles on their faces.

"Happy Birthday, Big Bro!" shouted Kairi. Kai blushed in embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head.

Elise chuckled, "We had a feeling you may have forgotten your own birthday, Kai."

Laguna walked up to the young swordsman and patted he head. "Normally, celebrating birthdays isn't recommended in the Guard. But when I learned that yours was today, I thought I'd make an exception for you, considering your a teenager now."

"You've been working so hard lately, Kai," said Ansem. "I think you deserve a little fun time. Don't you think?"

As usual, Kai just didn't know what to say. On one hand he was a bit uncomfortable, as this was the first time he's had a party thrown for him. Usually it was just his family and no one else. But as uncomfortable as he felt at the moment, he decided to go with it and see what happens.

There wasn't any party games, as most of the people in this party weren't into them. But there was music and dancing. Bartz, Zidane, Tifa, Aerith, Sera, and Kairi all danced to the music. Squall didn't want to dance, until he was dragged to the floor by Rinoa. Other than that, it was just socializing and eating cake.

Soon it was time to open presents. No one in the room really had a present to give him except three people.

Ansem the Wise was the first. He didn't wrap it, and it was a long chest-like box. "This is something I believe your father would've wanted you to have," he said as he handed the box to him.

Kai opened the chest, and he saw a new katana, that had a black handle with wrapped in blue cloth and a yellow guard. The blade was covered in a white sheath. As he picked up the sword, Kai thought that it looked familiar, and when he pulled it just an inch out of the sheath to look at the blade, he gasped at the fact that it was tinted red. "This is..." Kai paused.

Ansem nodded. "Yes, Kai. That is Muramasa, your father's sword. I've heard about the hard work you've been putting into you're Spellblade Art. You're father forged this sword with Merlin the Wizard to amplify that very art. You've proven to be one of the most promising Recruits we have. And I trust you to handle this sword with care."

Kai was speechless. He never thought he would ever get the chance to wield his father's sword, Muramasa. Just by holding the handle he could feel a mystical power flowing through him. With this blade, he could become even stronger. Kai soon snapped out of his stupor, and bowed to Ansem. "Th-thank you, My Lord. I'll take good care of it."

Grandma Elise walked up to her grandson and pulled something from behind her back. It was a yellow-green homemade scarf. "I knitted this myself," she said. "I know it's not much, but I thought it might look good on you." She then wrapped the scarf around her grandson's neck, tight enough so that it doesn't fall off, but loose enough so that it doesn't choke him.

Kai looked at his reflection on a nearby mirror with his new scarf on. He had to admit, he kinda liked it. And he wasn't the only one.

"Wow, Big Bro!" said Kairi. "That scarf looks good on you."

"I have to agree," said Lightning. "It suits you just fine."

Just about everyone in the room agreed.

And last but certainly not least Kairi pulled something from behind her back. It was five white pieces of paper cut into the shape of water droplets all strung together into a star shape with green yarn. On each droplet, a different picture was drawn. The top most one had a simple expressionless face with red crayon scribbled above it as if to look like hair. This droplet also had an extra yarn was strung to the top with two lengths that looked meant to tie around something. The second one going clockwise had a sword in black crayon. The third one had a purple flower. The fourth one had an orange flame. And the last one had a stick figure girl with red hair and a pink dress. A red heart decoration was glued to the center of the droplets.

"I made it myself," said Kairi. "It's a Lucky Charm just for you, to let you know that I'm always rooting for you, no matter what!" She smiled as she handed her gift to her brother.

Most of the people in the room thought this was cute and touching. Others, particularly Squall, Cloud, and Lightning, thought of how childish this was, but they couldn't blame the little girl.

Kai looked at the Lucky Charm as he held it in his hand. Only one thought was on his mind. Kairi made this for him. How it looked meant nothing to him, though he did have to admire the effort she put into its design. Just the fact that his own sister made this for him was all that mattered to him. You know what they say, 'It's the thought that counts.'

"Well? Do you like it?" asked Kairi.

Kai couldn't find the words on how much he appreciated it. But in true Kai-like fashion, he decided to express it with action rather than words. He knelt down and gave his little sister a big hug, sneaking a quick peck on her cheek. Kairi giggled at this as she returned the embrace.

KAI: It is clear to me how much she loves me. This gift she made for me has made my resolve to protect her even stronger than before. I will not let her down. I will NEVER let her down.

A/N: Assuming SOPA is stopped, next time will include Kairi's Birthday.