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There was no better way to spend a hot summer day than at an amusement park. Well, that’s what Kairi told him anyway. Her eyes had lit up with excitement as she went on and on about the different things to do at the park such as go on rollercoasters, eat greasy and overpriced foods, take pictures at different attractions – she was trying to persuade anyone to go with her. He was sure that if Sora were here that he would be the first one to offer to go with her because Sora was just that nice and generous, but alas the brunette was on vacation with his mother.
Roxas understood why Sora would spend most of his summer with her. After all, he had been away from his mother for nearly three years fighting off the darkness and whatnot. The least he could do was spend this time with her.
Riku was more or less in the same boat. His parents had been more lenient with him since he was nearing nineteen but the silvernette still decided to spend a good amount of his summer days with them. Riku would never say it out loud, but Roxas could see how much the older teen had missed his family.
So, Kairi had come to Twilight Town to try and get someone, anyone to go with her to an amusement park. Hayner, Pence, and Olette all had summer jobs they were working so they couldn’t go right off the bat. Lea had agreed to going at first but was quickly reminded by Isa that they had promised to be test subjects for Ienzo’s latest experiment. Anything for free ice cream, right?
Xion had already agreed to be Naminé’s model for her drawing today so she regretfully couldn’t go as well, which left Roxas as the only candidate left. Roxas had nothing to do that day. As a matter of fact, with all his friends busy he had initially planned to just skateboard around the town or visit a neighboring world or something. It seemed like now he had his day planned out more or less.
“I’ve got nothing to do so-”
“Yay!” Kairi cheered, interrupting the blonde. “You’re my most favorite person in all the worlds right now Roxas. We’re going to have so much fun!”
After taking the gummi ship to a world that Kairi ensured had amusement parks, they waited in a twenty-minute line just to get into the park. Roxas thought the line waiting would be taxing and boring. Who liked waiting in lines after all? It turns out that if you waited in a line with Kairi, you were sure to be entertained by the redhead.
Kairi got out her gummi phone and began trying out different filters from Kingstagram. She had Roxas join in on the fun and they began posing ridiculously with various silly filters. By the time they had reached the gates of the park, Kairi had probably posted at least fifty photos and videos to her story.
“You know, to show off,” Kairi said with a giggle. “It’s what all the cool kids are doing nowadays.”
Once they finally entered the park, Kairi basked in the loudness of it all, the smells of the greasy food and the various shops, rides, and attractions all around. Her eyes sparkled with wonder and merriment. Roxas couldn’t help but compare her to a kid in a candy shop, not knowing what to try out first but wanting one of everything.
“Where to first?” he asked.
She whipped around to face him, her long ponytail nearly hitting him in the face if he hadn’t stepped back. “There’s so much I want to do and want to see but I wouldn’t know where to start.” She looked to him for an answer.
“I’ve never been to an amusement park so I wouldn’t know either.”
“Well neither have I.”
Roxas hadn’t been expecting that answer. By Kairi’s excitement and proposal to go to an amusement park, he had figured that she had already been to one before. Perhaps they should just wing it and do what comes natural to them as they explore.
“How about we start walking through the park and we’ll interact with attractions and rides as we get to them? We could save the food and shops for later if you’d like,” the blonde suggested.
That seemed to be the perfect plan to Kairi, for she nodded enthusiastically and took Roxas’ hand, leading him further into the park. He couldn’t help but laugh at her excitement. It was rather adorable to see her like this.
They had started off with the smaller rides first to warm up to the more intense ones. The bumper cars were probably Roxas’ favorite attraction so far. He had made it his mission to crash into Kairi’s car as much as possible and the redhead had hopelessly tried to flee from him. Of course, he had achieved his goal and in doing so, caused the girl to laugh hysterically every time her car shook and jolted. He only kept colliding with her car if only to hear and see that laugh again and again. It was heartwarming.
They had taken countless pictures around the park with different characters walking around and different scenery. There had even been some rather funny cutouts that they stuck their heads in as well.
When they got to the rollercoasters, both Roxas and Kairi became excited and slightly intimidated at the size and sheer height of them. Some were slower while others sped through and elicited both screams and laughs from them. Sometimes Kairi would squeeze Roxas’ arm or hand in excitement when the coaster took a sharp turn or went down a steep slope. He found that he didn’t mind it at all.
It wasn’t until they got to one of the larger coasters of the park that Roxas was wondering if they hadn’t bitten off more than they could chew. This particular coaster seemed to be never-ending by the looks of it and was much higher than the others, not to mention that it had various loops to it. How was a coaster supposed to loop without murdering its passengers? Then again, if the patrons of the park were fine with it, it must have been safe.
Kairi was at his side in line, biting her lip and fidgeting with her bangs in nervousness. He placed a hand on her back and rubbed small circles, hoping that it could do something to ease her anxiety and maybe some of his own too.
“We don’t have to go on every ride Kairi. If there’s some you’d rather not do, that’s perfectly fine,” Roxas said.
“I’m scared but I’m also excited. It’s like I don’t want to go on it but that only makes me want to go on it more. Is that weird? It sounds pretty weird,” Kairi said as she looked up at him.
“Not at all. I find that the most exciting things are also the most nerve-wracking.” He grabbed her hands and gently tugged them away from her hair and held them in his own. “But don’t worry, I’ll be here to bask in all that nervous and excited energy with you.”
She gave him a sweet smile and gave his hands a squeeze. “Thank you Roxas.
“Anything for a princess in distress.”
Kairi laughed at his remark, swatting his shoulder playfully. They continued to chat and have playful banter until they found themselves sitting side by side, a bar across their laps and over their shoulders. And when the coaster began to steadily move up the first slope, Roxas felt his heart nearly beating out of his chest in anticipation. He heard Kairi laughing nervously next to him and couldn’t help but join in.
Once they dropped down at a speed faster than any of the other coasters they had been on, he heard himself and Kairi letting out screams of terror? Joy? Maybe both? The feeling was exhilarating and the only way they could express that was through their shrill screams.
And then the first loop came, and Roxas’ heart lurched in anticipation. He could see Kairi grip the bars tighter, just as eager and scared to experience the upcoming loop. They went up and up and up until they were upside down.
And they remained upside down.
The screams on the coaster quieted down and Roxas got the distinct feeling that coasters weren’t supposed to stay upside down in place. He turned as much as he could toward Kairi to see that she was looking around in confusion.
“Why… why did we stop?” she asked, her voice teetering on the edge of panic.
Just as Roxas was about to voice his opinion on the matter, a voice emitted from the speakers. “Attention passengers. We apologize for the technical difficulties. The ride should be operating within the next five to ten minutes. Until then, please keep your arms and legs inside the ride and remain calm. We thank you for your patience and apologize for the inconvenience.”
Roxas saw as Kairi blinked once, twice, three times and then turned to him with an utter look of horror. “We’re going to be stuck like this for ten whole minutes?”
Roxas winced at her tone, for it got higher near the end. “Maybe only five if it’s a quick fix?”
“Fix?! You’re saying something’s broken!”
Wow, way to go Roxas. You definitely know what to say to calm a girl down.
“I’m sure they just pressed a wrong button or something, that’s all,” Roxas said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. He wasn’t going to lie and say he wasn’t a bit scared as well, but he wasn’t terrified. Kairi on the other hand seemed completely frightened by the fact that they were suspended upside down. “Kairi, it’s okay. We’re going to be okay.”
He looked into her big scared glassy violet-blue eyes and felt his heart break a little. He wouldn’t let her cry. He just wouldn’t. She came here to have fun and damn it he was going to make sure that she continued to have fun, even if they were stuck in a rollercoaster and could possibly fall to their death if the bars suddenly retracted or something. He stretched his arm as far as he could and held out his hand to her. She looked down at his awaiting palm and placed her smaller hand in his.
Roxas gripped her hand and smiled, his eyes kind and bright. “As long as I’m here, nothing’s going to happen to you. I promise.”
And then it happened, what he had been striving for. He had made her laugh. It was more of a giggle, but he would take it all the same. It was light, bubbly, and so full of something that was just genuinely Kairi. He loved it.
“Plus, I have prior experience with these types of scenarios, so you have nothing to worry about,” he said with a wink.
Kairi let out a loud laugh at the blonde referring to his fall from the clocktower in Twilight Town as experience. She squeezed his hand, her fingers delicate and warm in his and he couldn’t help but want to stay like this holding hands forever. Okay, well maybe not the upside-down part.
He spent the next seven minutes joking and making the most ridiculous faces just to get her to keep smiling and laughing. At some point, their fingers had interlaced and Roxas had to wonder if it was him or Kairi that had initiated the gesture. It didn’t really matter to him though. He was just glad that she felt comfortable enough to be with him like this.
In what felt like little to no time, the coaster started up again and continued the rest of the way, finally completing the loop. Throughout the whole ride, Roxas and Kairi remained holding hands.
They went on a few more rollercoasters until there were only a couple of hours left until the park closed. Kairi insisted that they had to try something called a funnel cake before they left, something that her research highly suggested they do.
“Pffft, you researched what to do at an amusement park?” Roxas had asked in amusement.
“Oh, shut up,” Kairi had said with a playful shove.
So now they were sitting at a small table outside with a big funnel cake between the two. It was topped with chocolate syrup, boysenberry jam, powdered sugar, whipped cream, and scoops of vanilla ice cream.
“Are we going to be able to finish all this?” Roxas asked as he eyed the dessert.
Kairi gave him an unamused look. “Really Roxas? You eat about ten ice cream bars a day and you can’t eat at least half of this thing?”
“Okay, first off I eat at least fifteen a day.” Kairi chuckled, Roxas internally clapping himself on the back for getting the girl to emit such a sweet, wonderful sound. “And second, this looks like it would kill me faster than sea salt ice cream would.”
“I seriously doubt that,” the redhead said as she began to cut into the funnel cake with her fork. “All the sweetness you eat gets shot out when you’re sweet on other people.” She winked playfully at him, causing a light blush to appear on his cheeks.
“I’m not sweet. I’m vicious. Fear me,” the blonde said in the most exaggerated deadpan voice he could make.
“Ah yes. This is coming from the same guy that had all of Twilight Town’s stray cats on his lap.”
Roxas smiled as he recalled the memory of waking up to a bunch of cats on and around him. He had fallen asleep on a bench waiting for Xion, Kairi, and Olette to finish their shopping (he would not be subjected again to being asked which bras would look better on them thank you very much). There had been at least ten cats on the bench with him, some napping and others just cuddling with him.
“It’s not my fault I apparently attract cats,” Roxas said as he cut into the funnel cake.
“Cats are only attracted to sweet people, hence my earlier statement,” Kairi said with a triumphant smile as she scooped a generous portion of the dessert into her mouth. She instantly let out a hearty moan.
Curious as to how good a weird looking cake could possibly be, Roxas took a bite of the crisp cake. His eyes widened at the onslaught of various flavors in his mouth. The tanginess from the boysenberry jam, the lightness of the cake, the creaminess of the whipped cream, and the sweetness from the ice cream and chocolate syrup all exploded with flavor.
“Wow. This is pretty amazing,” Roxas said as he cut up another generous portion.
“Better than sea salt ice cream?” Kairi teased.
The blonde narrowed his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe she had just said those words. “Don’t push it. Although, that would probably go good with this.”
“Maybe we could recreate it and add sea salt ice cream as a topping.”
Roxas smiled at the idea, imagining just how chaotic being in the kitchen would be. He had already proven to be a terrible cook. He couldn’t even cook an egg properly to save his life. Kairi on the other hand had a pretty good hand at baking. He had tried many of her delicious creations and was never privy to being her taste tester.
But the two of them in the kitchen together would be a very interesting scenario. He’d probably mess up nearly everything and she’d just laugh and help him fix it. Then she’d probably call him one of her endearing teasing nicknames and he’d retort with one of his nicknames for her. It would be a fun time, he was sure.
He scooped more of the cake into his mouth, this portion topped high with whipped cream, and was broken out of his train of thought by a giggle. “What?” he asked the redhead whose face was scrunched up with laughter.
“You’ve got a little…” she leaned over the table, just enough to get up close to his face.
She was very close now that he was paying attention, and she was getting closer. Roxas wasn’t sure if he was supposed to move away but he found that he didn’t want to. He didn’t mind their close proximity.
And then his breath hitched in his throat as he felt her lips on the tip of his nose. They were soft and gentle and gone too fast. She pulled away to smile at him sweetly.
“You had whipped cream on your nose. It’s gone now,” she said, briefly licking her lips. Roxas’ eyes darted down to the quick action and then back up. Kairi looked rather amused by his shocked expression. “What? Do I have something on my face too?”
Roxas couldn’t help the little smile that came upon his face. This girl, this sweet, sweet girl that he had been unknowingly crushing on for some time, had just kissed him on the nose as if it was nothing. She didn’t apologize or try to redirect the situation. That was just like Kairi though, to not back down or shy away from her actions. He’d never seen her be so bold, so close to someone like that before, not even Sora. And yet, she had decided to initiate such a small yet telling gesture on him.
Roxas had an idea. It was a rather risky idea and could end up badly if he had been reading all this in the wrong way, but if Kairi could be brave, then so could he. So, he leaned his elbows on the small table and leaned in closer to her. “Actually, you do,” he said, answering her previous question. “But don’t worry, I’ve got it.” He gave her a tiny smirk before pressing his lips to hers, taking her bottom lip between his own.
He heard Kairi let out a small noise of surprise and he momentarily panicked because what if he was kissing her and she didn’t want to kiss him? Maybe she had just been friendly with him this entire time and he had taken it the complete wrong way. His panic eased once he felt Kairi return the kiss, her hand coming up to gently rest against his cheek.
He lightly ran the tip of his tongue across her bottom lip, not surprised to find that she tasted sweet no doubt due to the funnel cake, but there was also something that was distinctly Kairi too. He wanted to stay like this forever but unfortunately, they did need to breathe.
It was with great remorse that Roxas pulled away and took in Kairi’s flushed state. Her lips were parted, and her eyes were still closed as if she was still relishing in the kiss. Roxas knew that Kairi was a beautiful girl. That was just a fact. But in this moment, she looked truly remarkable. The image nearly took his breath away.
When she did open her eyes, she raised her fingers to her lips and smiled at him, something soft and yet mirthful. “See, you are sweet on people.”
Roxas chuckled and gave her a lopsided smile. “Nah, only on you.”
“Well, aren’t I special.”
“You have no idea.”
They spent the rest of the time finishing the funnel cake and having casual conversation. Despite the rather intimate moment they had just shared, they still were able to be comfortable around each other. They still talked like they always did, but there was a slight difference to it now that Roxas noticed. The looks they cast each other were softer and much warmer and he saw how both their hands would inch closer to the other until they were holding hands across the table.
When the park closed, Roxas couldn’t help but feel a bit sad that this perfect day was coming to an end. Not only had he had fun, but he felt much closer to Kairi and he wanted to revel in that closeness for a while longer. He didn’t want to say goodbye to her just yet. All good things had to come to an end though, right?
So when they landed in Twilight Town, the streets empty and the sky dark and starry, Kairi had hopped out of the gummi ship to properly say goodbye. “Thank you for today, Roxas,” she said as she hugged him, her arms around his neck and her breath tickling his skin. “I had a really great time.”
“So did I,” the blonde responded softly, his arms tightening the slightest bit around her waist. “Probably one of the best days of my life.”
The hug lasted for a few minutes but even then it wasn’t enough. He wanted to keep holding her in his arms like this for just a while longer. But he knew that was unrealistic. She had to go home.
Kairi stepped back, giving him a soft smile that nearly made him melt into a puddle right then and there. “Until next time Roxas.”
“Y-yeah. See you,” he said rather dumbly as she began to walk to the ship. He wanted to tell her more. He wanted to tell her that she was one of the bravest people he knew. He wanted to tell her that he admired how loving she was to all her friends and how determined she was to keep them from harm’s way. He wanted to tell her how she had the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen because the violet and blue absolutely captivated him. He wanted to tell her that her smile lit up his world and was ingrained into his memory.
She was the first thing he thought about everyday and the last. Even in his dreams she continued to grace him with her smiles. He never stopped seeing her.
And if he didn’t tell her this now, he surely wouldn’t tell her later.
“Kairi, wait!” he called out, running after her and grabbing her wrist.
She turned around, a question on her lips, only for Roxas to surge forward and kiss her. He cradled her face in his hands, as if she was something so very precious and fragile that would shatter if he let go. He felt her hands clutch at his jacket, the fabric bunching up.
When he pulled away, he didn’t hesitate to say, “Next time it’ll be a date. I promise.”
Kairi’s eyes crinkled with joy at hearing his words and Roxas felt infinitely proud that he was able to cause her to laugh and smile so much in just one day. She leaned up and placed a lingering kiss on his lips, one that made Roxas turn into puddy. “Now it’s an official promise,” she said.
He watched her as she made her way back to the gummi ship and continued to watch her even as the ship left until it was nothing but a miniscule speck in the sky. He placed a hand to his chest and chuckled at the feeling of his erratic heartbeat. He felt like his whole world had turned upside down but in the best way. Things were different now and he couldn’t wait to see what was in store for him and Kairi.
“Feels like I’m stuck on that loop all over again,” Roxas said to the sky, amused.
He absolutely couldn’t wait to see Kairi again. He couldn’t wait to tell her, to show her how much she meant to him.