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They sat in silence together. One gazing at their own knees, nibbling at their own lip in preparation on what to say. The other, softly looking at the wallpaper, tracing the swirls and curls of the cream against the light yellow. They both knew that after this night, there would be hardly any time to speak to one another. Sora would be going after the seven guardians of light with Goofy and Donald, and Kairi would be training with Lea for who knows how long. Sora would be traveling from world to world, hoping to save all of the worlds from the darkness. Although it made Kairi feel guilty, she didn't want Sora to leave her. It made her feel selfish, but perhaps she was justified in feeling such a way. It had been years since she and Sora properly spent days on end with each other without any interruptions. It felt like a lifetime ago that they played together on a beach, just enjoying each other's company.
They were older now and responsibility fell on both of their shoulders. Yet a small feeling was in the pit of their minds; they just wanted to be kids again.
Kairi let go of her bottom lip with her teeth and she turned to look at Sora, and at the same time Sora turned to look at her. They both opened their mouths at the same time, "Sora-" "Kairi-," and then they exploded into laughter. Why were they both being so weird? They knew each other for so long. They were both the same. Nothing was different.
Well, maybe a few things were.
After the laughter died down, they both looked at each other with a smile. Sora was the first to speak, "Kairi, I wanted to speak to you about something before I leave."
"I did too," she replied, slightly gazing at her bare knees. There were tons of jitters in her stomach, and she wasn't sure if she'd say all of the things she wanted to say, but she was relieved that Sora wanted to speak. "But you can go first."
The boy gave her a swift and slightly determined nod, his bright blue eyes set directly on hers. She noticed that even the littlest of things put Sora into a determined state, as if he never wanted to fail at doing something. Maybe it was a weakness of his but Kairi admired it. She knew that if she had gone through some of the things he had, she would've faltered at some moments, but never Sora. He had a strong heart and would do anything for the people he loved. She knew that was one of the reasons she loved him.
"Kairi-," he had started but quickly stopped. His own eyes drifted to the floor, only this time he didn't pay any attention to the detailing. "Do you remember when we were little and everything was... simple?"
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "Back on the islands? When it was just you, me, and Riku?"
Sora grimaced a little at the mention of Riku (which Kairi caught and chuckled a bit at) and nodded. It wasn't that he didn't like Riku, he was one of his best friends, but Sora always felt a little rivalry between the two boys when it came to Kairi's attention. Sora never knew if Riku liked the girl or not, and he didn't know if Kairi liked him back, but he couldn't possibly think of Riku at a time like this. A time where he decided to finally confess how he felt to Kairi. A time where he where he would finally tell her he loved her. After so many years, he was finally going to do it. It made his head all foggy. Nevertheless, Sora nodded, "Yeah."
This made Kairi smile in thought at those simpler times. "I miss sitting by the beach and listening to the waves. I also miss you and Riku being weirdos." It was her time to turn her blue eyes on him and he nearly lost this train of thought once she did so.
"How were we weirdos?" He smiled back at her, shifting his body to face her.
"Well, you would always compete over anything. It was childish but... I miss it. You smiled a lot more often back then."
And that's when he noticed the tinge of pain in her voice and how it reverberated into her eyes and shot back at him. How could he not have noticed before? He didn't say anything back to her and instead took one of her hands in his as she quickly looked down at her knees again. "Sora... I-...I don't want you to leave. I know you have to. I know that you have a responsibility, and I do too but... I have never missed someone in my entire life as much as I miss you." The grip on Sora's hand tightened with her every word. Her voice caught in her throat before she went on, "I worry so much about you."
"I worry about you too Kairi."
And that was enough for her. The girl focused her eyes up onto his, and while his hand was tangled with hers, and he was mere inches away, their knees barely touching, Kairi never felt more further away. Her attention shifted between his two seas of crystal, trying to find a sign from him, but whether he wasn't going to give it to her or he was oblivious was unclear. She knew down to the very center of her existence that she loved Sora, in more ways than one, but she just needed the reassurance that Sora loved her back, in all of the same ways. There were a million things Kairi could've exploded into saying that day, and every day it ended the same, with Kairi confessing the feeling she'd had for, it seemed, like a lifetime now. As she thought about all of her possible next words she just couldn't get one thing out of her mind; Sora's hand fell so perfectly into hers. It made her think of all of their combined hugs and hand-holding. This seemed majorly different, yet the same all in one. Man, feelings were so complicated. Hearts were so complicated. Kairi knew that now.
The boy tried to swallow all of his nerves away. She was quiet for such a long time now, silently staring into his eyes, her small and soft hand resting peacefully in his fingers. He never wanted to let go, but eventually he would have to. Just thinking of their time apart made him refocus on the task at hand, what all of this was truly about. Soon, the most important words started to spill from his lips, "I love you Kairi. I've always loved you. And not in just the normal way, I mean in every humanly way possible. I care about you so, so much and I'm sorry I never said it before. I was nervous about what you would say. I just focused on protecting you - not that you need it that much - but anyway, the point is that I look at you and I see the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Even if you don't like me back, even if you just want to be friends, that's fine with me. Because-"
Kairi then proceeded to giggle, which then turned into small little laughs, which then turned into full blown laughter. Her hand never left Sora's. The girl laughed so much her eyes watered and her stomach swelled and she couldn't breathe. Her own nervousness bubbled away into laughter.
She took Sora's jaw in her other hand, "Sora, I love you too. More than anything."
"Really?"
She nodded with a smile. "Really."
His eyes wandered from one of her deep blues to the other, until he shut his eyes and willed himself to say it. Just say it, Sora! The boy inhaled, puffed out his cheeks and sputtered out, "KairicanIkissyourightnow?"
Initially, Kairi had no idea what he said. Her eyelashes fluttered with her confusion until she erupted into giggles once again and took his jaw into both of her hands. She leaned forward and gently placed her lips onto his, a wide smile on both of their faces. It was the perfect, simply sweet thing to calm both of their minds. They each lost themselves in that pure moment, where the weight of the world didn't loom over their heads and the both of them could just be two kids in love. Neither of them wanted to part, but they also didn't want to go further. They separated slowly, being able to open their eyes slowly as well. The smile that radiated off of them could've powered the sun.
Sora knew, that like always, he would fight to get back to her.