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The sun sinks down below the sea, casting it's last light across the water, and Kairi stands to watch.

There's no reason, really, except that she can't quite forget all those days of waiting and wondering and hoping. Wondering where Sora and Riku were, if they were alright, if they were coming back to her. She thinks about all those days, those months, and every sunset she finds herself at the beach.

Sora comes to get her, hands in the pockets of his salt-stained shorts. He drags a sandal across the sand, and laughs when Kairi splashes him, because when he laughs, Kairi doesn't look as sad. They chase each other across the beach, throwing mud and scooping up seashells, only stopping when the first stars start to appear and there's not enough light to see each others faces.

They walk back home together, houses separated only by a small cottage style house that belongs to an old man who never leaves. Kairi holds Sora's hand, palm sweaty, red hair sticking to the back of her neck, and Sora smiles down at her. Riku's off-world, visiting Hallow Bastion, so Kairi follows Sora into his house instead of letting go to go up her porch steps. It's empty, his mother at work, and they go upstairs.

Kairi strips off her sandy clothes, pulling on a pair of Sora's shorts and laying in the bed in her bra, head cocked to the side. Sora tugs off his shirt and flips off the light, climbing in next to her, smiling and leaning his head against Kairi's. They lay there, fingers locked together, and Kairi runs her hand through Sora's hair while he talks about the Heartless he thinks he still sees in the shadows. She listens as he tells her how he feels Roxas and Xion and Ventus in him, their hearts and memories, and Kairi nods because she understands.

She tells him, fingers tracing patterns in the air above them, about the dreams she has, of Namine, and the colors she sees now in her mind, vibrant hues that she can't recreate on a palette. She's starting to draw more, teaching her fingers the way to produce what Namine shows her, but it's hard. Sora smiles and teases her, but Kairi knows that he goes up to the clock tower sometimes with Lea and shares seasalt ice cream in hopes that Roxas will bubble up in his conscious, so she doesn't mind too much.

They fall asleep like that, air thick and muggy, bare skin pressed together while Sora hugs her from behind, fingers still twined together over Kairi's stomach, legs brushing each other occasionally. It's not perfect, this life they've made, because they used to be so much more. They saved worlds, fought monsters, found each other. But it's a pretty good life, and they're learning to live it.