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Kairi doesn't know how long it's been since she's been here. The flow of time feels vague, and strange, and, at times, it feels like a dream where you're running towards a door down an ever lengthening hall.
She sighs, and pushes herself off of the ground. She feels the weight of a hand on her shoulder, and turns to find Axel giving her a warm grin. He's very caring, and very perceptive, and considering their history, Kairi finds herself surprised at how fond she has grown of his reassuring presence.
She gives him a warm smile in return. She knows he's hurting, too.
“Hey, what are you doing standing around here by yourself, huh? At a time like this, too!” He throws an arm around Kairi, and gestures to the late afternoon sun. “Isn't it the perfect time for some ice cream?”
Kairi chuckles.
“In case you forgot, Axel,” she begins, raising an eyebrow at him, “you ate the last of our ice cream, remember?”
Axel opens his mouth to undoubtedly spout a witty comeback, but then there's a flash, and then, a voice she's missed dearly.
“Good thing I'm here to save the day.”
She turns so quickly that Axel, arm still around her shoulders, stumbles. She shoots him a quick apologetic look, and turns her attention back to her friend.
“Riku!” she exclaims with a smile, her melancholy from earlier already feeling distant.
He smiles warmly back, and then gestures towards the bags he’s holding with a tilt of his head.
“These are from Merlin,” he explains, “in addition to the ice cream, I've got some new clothes for you guys as well. He was going bring them himself, but...” he pauses for a second, seeming almost bashful as he puts the bags onto the grass, and looks at Kairi, “...I thought it’d be nice to see how you’re going, Kairi.”
Kairi is filled with affection, and it begins to dawn on her how much Riku’s grown. He’s become so much more honest with his feelings than he used to be.
She wonders if it’s Sora’s influence.
“Aww, that's very sweet of you,” she says with an only slightly teasing lilt to her voice, “ Master Riku.”
His face heats up immediately, and he nervously runs a hand through his hair.
“Still getting used to that one...”
“Y’know, on the topic of Riku being a Master,” Axel chimes in from the tree he's propped himself up against, “there probably aren’t many people more qualified to get us up to speed then you.”
Riku perks up immediately. “I'm up for a bit of sparring, if you think it'll help.”
“You sure you're game?” replies Kairi with a grin. “We've gotten pretty good, y'know...”
Riku grins back, conjuring up his keyblade in one hand, which he rests over his shoulder. “You're on.”
Kairi swears she can hear the call of seagulls, and the swell of the sea.
Despite Riku’s competitive streak, Riku is actually very patient and helpful with them. He could, probably with little effort really, absolutely thrash the both of them. But he doesn’t.
“Don’t focus so much on brute force, Kairi.” says Riku lightly, expertly weaving away from her latest assault. “You’re quick on your feet, I think you should use that to your advantage.”
She doesn’t really like waiting around for people to mess up, or for there to be an opening in their stance. She wishes she could just overwhelm her opponents into submission, but unfortunately doesn’t work like that, she supposes. Maybe that’s why she never had a chance against Sora and Riku in their wooden sword fights.
Regardless, she takes Riku’s advice (which still feels like a strange and foreign thing to think about - where’s the Riku who would tease when you slipped up while sparring?), and tries to watch his attacks more carefully. There’s a definite sense of precision to his attacks, and his gaze feels laser-focused. But, there’s a small but consistent pause in his attacks after he does what Kairi has internally dubbed ‘The Jumpy Attack’.
She swivels around as he lands, and quickly shoots a powerful burst of water at his back, and Riku lets out a surprised wheeze as he’s knocked to the ground.
Riku pushes his now drenched hair out of his eyes from his spot amongst the grass, and gives Kairi a pleased smile. She allows herself a second of gloating, before offering Riku a hand to help him up.
“Good work,” he says, genuinely happy, as he takes her hand and stands up, “Can’t say I was expecting the water.”
Kairi doesn’t delude herself into thinking that, to a certain extent anyway, Riku didn’t allow himself to be attacked. But she does feel a swell of confidence at Riku not expecting Kairi to attack in that way. She stands up a little taller.
“I told you that I’m getting pretty good!”
They continue on like this for a while, her and Axel switching places regularly. He continues to pause at times to give more tips - how they should adjust their stances, what they should be looking out for more, when they should compliment their attacks with magic. While Riku has always been someone who cares deeply about his friends, this still all feels quite surprising. The self-confident, competitive boy from the islands feels millennia away. He’s become so mature, so dignified.
It’s hard to not think about how much she’s missed.
Riku stops, giving Kairi a concerned look.
“Hey, how about we take a break?” He says, giving an unconvincing smile. “We’ve been going at it for a while, now.”
Axel gives the two of them a look, then goes to pick up the now abandoned bags.
“Sounds good, I’ll go put these away, huh?” He grins. “Don’t want the Ice-Cream melting.”
Riku gives Axel a nod of thanks, then gestures for Kairi to come with him. He takes them back to the cliff overlooking the treetops, a nice spot, and sits down with her on the large rock.
They don’t say anything for a bit. Kairi knows that Riku can tell she feels down, he’s perceptive, but she doesn’t really know what to say about it. She plays with the hem of her dress.
“You’ve become really strong, y’know.” He says finally, breaking through the silence. He turns to face her, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I think your water magic rivals Sora’s, but... don’t tell him I said that.”
Kairi laughs, and smiles back at Riku.
“You’ve become strong too.” She says, and turns away from Riku to face the sunset. “I really look up to you.”
“U-Um,” he stammers, “I’m not sure I deserve it, but thank you.”
“Don’t be silly”, she replies immediately, giving him a light poke in his side. “You’ve done so much for Sora’s sake, become so strong in your efforts to protect him, you deserve a little admiration.”
Sora’s name in this context instantly makes Riku flustered. Interesting.
He scratches the back of his neck, and averts his eyes.
“I feel like-” She begins, but stops herself, trying to collect her thoughts. “You two have done so much, been through so much together...” She kicks at the dirt at her feet absentmindedly. “I’m working at becoming strong enough to protect the two of you like you’ve protected me, but...”
Riku’s embarrassment from before has turned back into concern, and he nods at Kairi, listening intently.
“...But it feels like... Like I’ve missed my bus, or something.” She turns her eyes away. “And now, I wonder if it’s too late to catch up...”
“Kairi...”
“I thought we’d all be together, finally adventuring into new worlds like we always wanted to... but instead, I’m stuck here...” Kairi can feel tears threatening to fall, but she takes in a shaky, but deep, breath, and manages to hold them back.
She knows that Sora and Riku are suffering under the weight of the world, the weight of everyone’s expectations, but Kairi feels powerless to do anything about it.
“I wish it were like that, too...” Riku admits, his hands balling into fists in his lap. “Now that Sora has a Gummiphone, he keeps sending me all these ridiculous pictures of himself in all the worlds he’s visiting, and it’s nice, but...” Riku’s voice becomes a little quieter. “It just makes me wish I were there, by his side...”
Kairi knows Riku doesn’t mean to hurt her, but she hasn’t really received much at all from Sora, and hearing about all the stuff Riku has received makes it hard for her fear of being left behind to not creep back up. She finds that she doesn’t feel mad at Riku about bringing it up, though. It feels like once Sora creeps into his head, he can’t think about anything else. Silly boys.
“You really care about him, huh?” Says Kairi with a small smile.
Riku immediately becomes flustered again, and Kairi can’t help but let out a quiet giggle. He’s hopeless.
“I-I mean, yeah?” He answers in an uneven, uncertain tone. “Of... Of course I do.”
The hint of a smirk creeps into her smile. “I mean really care.”
At that Riku makes a strange choking noise, and proceeds to hide his head head in his hands, so Kairi decides to be charitable and give him a break from the teasing.
“You should know by now that you can't hide anything from me, that's all.” She says, and gives him a quick pat on the back. She’s about to suggest going to get some of that Ice-Cream, when Riku starts to speak.
“I... I think...”
Kairi is kind of bewildered when she hears him. Is he opening up? She turns to face him, and his face is out of his hands now, though his gaze is directed at the ground.
“I mean, I know...” He amends. “...I know I do.”
The knuckles on fists start to go white, which Kairi only just realises are still balled into fists in his lap, and he raises his eyes, looking towards the sunset.
“I... love him.”
When the world 'love’ comes out of his mouth, it sounds strange and strangled, like he’s choking on the weight of it. Kairi puts a hand on his shoulder that she hopes is reassuring, and lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She’s not quite sure what she’s meant to say, but she feels a swell of emotion at Riku opening up like this - so different from the boy so closed into himself and ashamed that she accompanied in The World That Never Was almost a year ago.
Riku lets out something akin to a groan, and runs a shaky hand down down his face. Kairi can hear his breathing speed up slightly, so she moves her arm so she’s giving him a side hug, and rests her head on his shoulder.
“Sorry...” He mumbles.
“Don’t be silly,” she replies, “what do you have to be sorry about?”
“I wouldn’t want...” He trails off, and takes a deep breath before continuing. “I wouldn’t want to get in your way.”
Oh, Riku.
“Don't be ridiculous,” she says. “My true love is sea salt ice cream.”
Riku lets out a laugh, and rests his head on top of Kairi’s, and Kairi lets out a sigh of relief.
“But, I do wish Sora were here, though.” Kairi begins, and Riku hums in agreement. “Well... Not here perhaps,” she corrects, “I wish we were all home together, on our island, laughing like old times.”
Riku lets out another hum of agreement, but sounds worn out.
Kairi stands up suddenly, determined.
“I'll become stronger!” She declares proudly. “I'll protect you, and I'll protect Sora, and then we can all go home together...!”
Riku gives Kairi one of his most radiant smiles.
“With you on our side, Xehanort better watch his back.”
Kairi gives Riku a pleased grin.
“And when we all go home,” she says, her grin widening, “maybe you can tell Sora how you feel.”
Kairi expects protests, or perhaps embarrassed mumbling, but Riku surprises her yet again.
“Yeah, maybe I can.”
Riku gives Kairi a grateful smile, full of affection, and Kairi feels like maybe the three of them will be alright after all.