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“Sora, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Kairi asked as she trailed behind him. They were set up in his mother’s kitchen. She watched, one eyebrow raised, as Sora flitted around the space gathering ingredients for the birthday cake he wanted to bake Riku.
This had all started a few days ago. Riku had absently commented that he missed celebrating his birthday with them like they did every year before the heartless. Since they were all home and the darkness had finally been defeated, Sora thought they should have a make-up celebration.
Kairi watched him thoughtfully, head in her hand as she leaned against one of the counters. Sora had made no mention of his own birthday, which was typical of him. He was always diving headfirst into whatever task he felt was necessary for the sake of his friends while forgetting himself. It drove her crazy. Despite that, Kairi thought baking a cake was harmless enough, and she was further pleased that she had weaseled her way into helping. She wanted to spend as much time with Sora as she could. They had a whole year to make up for after all.
“A cake can’t be that hard, can it?” Sora replied, pulling out a huge bowl from a lower cabinet.
Kairi dared drift closer, stopping once she was standing beside Sora with her hands linked behind her back. “Hmm. I guess not…” She did not sound or feel convinced.
Sora, however, was all confidence. He grinned at her and she melted. “Don’t worry. This is just another adventure I’ll tackle with flying colors. You’ll see!”
And boy, did Kairi see.
The cake turned out to be a lumpy, burnt mess. The kitchen was a disaster. Both Sora and Kairi were covered in flour, egg, and something else sticky that tasted like vanilla. When Sora’s mom returned from her day job, they were instructed to scrub every inch of the kitchen until it was spotless again. She was lucky her pink dress was short enough not to get caught in the cleaning supplies, but she was certain Sora’s pants would never be the same shade of black again.
The afternoon had technically been a failure, but it was a memory Kairi held dear. It wasn’t long after that that Sora and Riku were called away again for their Mark of Mastery exam, and everything she knew and loved seemed to slip through her fingers.
~
A rock hit her window. Kairi jolted, lifting her head from where she had fallen asleep at her desk. The ink from the pages she had been writing on was surely plastered on her face. She opened the window, narrowly dodging another precisely aimed rock.
“Sorry!”
Kairi looked down, not at all surprised to see Sora standing there with a grocery bag on his left shoulder and a bouquet of red flowers in his right hand. The colors of the setting sun made him look even brighter as he grinned up at her. She smirked, resting her arms against the windowsill. “And to what do I owe the pleasure of a surprise visit from my boyfriend?” she questioned, buzzing with anticipation. Every time they were together filled with her joy, and knowing it was a joy that would never be interrupted again only pleased her more. Sora was hers and she was his and nothing in all the realms could separate them ever again.
“Date night?” Sora suggested, blue eyes tender and sweet. It was a face she couldn’t resist.
She giggled. “All right. I’ll open the door for you.”
Sora burst into her home like a strong breeze. He went straight for the kitchen and dropped his bag on one of her countertops. Kairi followed him, already intrigued. “What is all this?”
He turned to her, thrust the flowers into her hands, and began unpacking the bag. “Well, I was thinking…we haven’t really cooked together since we were 15 and that turned out to be a huge disaster,” Sora explained, laughing to himself at the memory. “I thought we could have a redo and that maybe the food we made could be for us.”
He smiled at her, oozing love, and adoration. It was another expression she could not resist. “That sounds wonderful,” she replied, leaning forward to kiss his cheek before she went to put the flowers in water.
They were older now, 20 to be exact, and both had much more experience in the kitchen. Sora had brought ingredients for a sweet and sour chicken stir fry with sides of rice and mixed vegetables. It was a dish she had made on her own before but cooking with Sora made it more fun. She watched as he set out all the ingredients on separate cutting boards.
“All right, let’s see what you can do,” he challenged, offering her the handle of a knife.
Kairi smiled as she took it. “Is everything a competition with you?”
He stepped behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder, and placing his hands over hers. “Not necessarily,” he replied in her ear, voice playful and low. “I wanted to do it together. Like this.”
She shuddered against his chest. He never failed to charm her. Not even after all these years. “Tell me what to do.”
He surprised her with his finesse in the kitchen. He could chop, dice, and mince perfectly. The way he held the pan over the flames and tossed the chicken surprised her, but she supposed it shouldn’t have, he did learn everything he knew from a five-star chef.