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Chapter 24: The Day She Had Me At A Latte

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It was the usual quiet period after the lunch rush in the cafe but the young barista was no where near as relaxed as he should be. Standing behind the counter, his eyes were fixated on her. There she was. So close yet so far away. Laughing with her friend like there was no tomorrow. It was as if she didn't even remember what she said the other day. Heavy thoughts started to cloud his mind as his eyes moved to the box on the ground by her feet. Folders and photo frames filled the cardboard box, as well as other pieces of paper. He had so many questions running through his head. When is she leaving? Why? Is she coming back? Will this be the last time I'm ever going to see her?

"Hey!"

The sudden outburst made him snap back to reality. A frown instantly plastered his face.

"What?" Sora asked. "I mean - " He straightened up. "- to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

Riku rolled his eyes at the barista's attitude. "You forgot to give me a straw." He pointed his frappucino. "Again."

"Oh," Sora replied. He grabbed a plastic straw from the counter and passed it to him. "Sorry. Here you go."

Riku took the straw before he walked away. "Thanks."

That simple word took Sora by surprise but he nodded back in appreciation. He couldn't keep being an asshole to an asshole. That was just being petty.

Now back to Kairi.

As he turned towards her again, a flash of short brown hair and greenish blue eyes came across his vision. He felt his heart stopped as he saw that girl again. There was no way she was here. She should be in Radiant Gardens! But in his eyes, she was sitting there where Kairi was. She was wearing their high school uniform, clearly a hallucination from the past, and - wait, was she waving at him?!

Sora shook his head in disbelief. He re-opened his eyes and saw that it was actually Kairi again waving at him. Releasing a breath, he waved back and turned back towards the stack of washed dishes left on the counter for him to dry.

'No, Sora. You must be tripping or something,' he reassured himself mentally. He picked up the wash cloth and started polishing a glass. 'There is no way she is here. Kairi isn't her. They are not the same person.'

"Good work everyone. Keep it up," Ventus' voiced echoed through the cafe. With a clipboard in his hand and a smile on his face, he went from staff to staff praising them for their efforts.

Sora perked at his voice in surprise. He hadn't heard it for a while. The blond had been so busy with wedding preparations that he was seldom in the cafe, something that Sora did not mind more than he thought he would. Sure, it was annoying that Ventus disappeared during the rush ho times. But on the other hand, it helped Sora feel so much more stronger and confident in the work place.

"Yo, Sora!"

"What, Ven?" Sora answered, still focused on his task.

"I can't believe it finally happened," Ventus smirked. He placed the clipboard down and picked up another wash cloth to help.

The barista arched a brow. "What happened?"

"Love!"

Sora almost dropped the glass he was holding. "W-What?"

"Between you and you-know-who," Ventus wiggled his eyebrows.

Sora caught on quickly. He glared up at his boss. "It's not like that."

"Oh, please. That little wave before was oh-so innocent," Ventus said casually. "And the way you're staring at her..." He scrunched up his face. "Yeesh."

"I don't - "

"Thanks for the drink, guys."

Ventus gave Sora a sly look before he turned towards the voice. "Oh, hey Kairi!" He emphasized sweetly. "Are you going home now? Sora is about to knock off in an hour if you want to wait for him." If he wasn't his boss Sora would have kicked him. "He'll be more than happy to drop you off."

Kairi chuckled but the pink tint in her cheeks was obvious. "No, it's fine. Someone is picking me up anyway."

"You're not driving?" Sora asked curiously.

"I sold my car."

Ventus peered down at the box she was carrying. "What's with the box?"

Guilt started to tear Sora as he watched her readjust her hold on the box. The box was quite big for her petite frame. Obviously she was struggling. His first instinct was to run over the counter and grab that box, but there was something stopping him. He frowned when he saw her arms starting to shake slightly.

"It's my last day at work today," Kairi chirped cheerfully. "I cleared out all my junk."

"You're leaving?!" Ventus cried out. He turned to Sora. "Why did no one tell me?"

"Sorry, I haven't seen you so I couldn't tell you," Kairi apologized with a slight bow. "I got a new job in Radiant Garden and I'm leaving tomorrow after the wedding."

That surprised Sora. "Tomorrow?!" He squawked out. "I thought you at least had another week or so."

Kairi shook her head sadly. "I wish."

"Radiant Garden, huh?" Ventus smiled in awe. "That's a lovely place. You'll have to come visit us when you come back."

"Actually," She bit her lip. "I don't know when I'm coming back."

Sora's heart stilled. He already had a feeling that was the case but hearing it out loud was still incredibly painful.

Ventus changed to a pout. "I'll miss seeing a regular face around here. At least say bye to us at the wedding before you go."

"Definitely!" She readjusted her grip on the box again. "I really have to go now. This box isn't getting any lighter." She glanced over to Sora quickly, an action that didn't go unnoticed. "See you both tomorrow."

With one last smile, Kairi turned on her heel quickly. Once she was out of the cafe, the blond quickly whacked the back of Sora's head.

"Hey!" Sora growled, rubbing the sore spot. "What was that for?"

"Being a dumbass," Ventus answered. "Why didn't you help her?"

"Why should I?"

That earned him another hit.

"What the hell, Ven?!" Sora exploded. "Were you always this annoying or am I just a special case?"

"Actually - "

"On second thought, don't answer that." Sora continued to glare as he picked up another glass to polish.

"Why are you so touchy today?" Ventus asked bluntly. "You know, I thought you would have run past the counter and helped her carry that box in an instant. Girls go crazy for guys who do stuff like that."

Sora let out a frustrated breath and put down the washcloth on the stack of dishes. He was already in a foul mood and the blond was only making it worse. "Look, the cafe was doing fine without you and I know you didn't just come over to give me some lessons on my love life so what the hell do you want?"

Ventus gaped before regaining his composure. He hadn't heard the barista talk like that before. Reaching into his back pocket, he took out two orange tickets and handed it to him. "Here."

Sora squinted his eyes as he peered down to read it: Destiny Island Festival Entry Pass.

"It's a gift for being so hardworking the last couple of months," Ventus said sincerely. "I understand that I haven't been in the cafe for a while and I'm sorry for putting all the burden on everyone's shoulders."

"Oh." Sora was stunned. He honestly wasn't expecting that. "Thanks. Uh," he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry for that. I didn't mean what I said before."

Ventus cracked a grinned. "Apology accepted... only if - " his grin grew even wider. "- you take Kairi to the festival."

Sora immediately handed back the tickets. "Nope."

"C'mon. I know you've been waiting to take her out for such a long time and now that she's finally single again it's the perfect opportunity."

The barista shook his head. "That's not it."

"She would love this - "

"But she's leaving." Sora interrupted him abruptly. "And she's not going to come back. What's the point in this? Nothing will ever come out of it no matter. It always end up that way, plus," he ranted on like verbal diarrhea. "I don't know if we'll see each other again. What if we never do?" He looked down with a pained expression. "She's leaving me again."

"You? Again?" Ventus caught quickly. He raised a brow suspiciously.

Sora felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment at his little freudian slip. That vision of her earlier really messed him up. "I mean, us. She's leaving us." He repeated, more clearer this time. "For the first time. Ever."

"We're not talking about Kairi right now, are we?" When Sora didn't reply, Ventus sighed. "Look, kid," he laid a hand on Sora's shoulder as he gave him a firm look. "Everyone has baggage. You, me, our customers - everyone. But don't let it pull you behind and get you stuck in the past. You just have to find someone who helps you unpack, you know?"

Sora dwelled on his words as Ventus left him to put away the dishes. Maybe he was right. Kairi's not her. She would never break his heart like she did.

With newfound determination, he pulled on the strings of his apron and threw it on the floor, and rushed around the counter towards the doorway. The moment his fingers wrapped around the door knob he froze still. As fast as his determination came, so did fear. He felt his heart palpitating in his chest and he squeezed his eyes shut.

'I can't do this,' Sora thought to himself as he slowly let go of the door knob. 'Sorry, Kairi. It's for the best.'

Slumping on the couch, Sora flicked through the channels quickly. Exciting movies and shows were playing but none of them appealed to him. His eyes glanced to the clock on the wall – 7.00p.m. A sigh escaped his lips as he sank further into the comfort.

A hard knock on the door brought his attention back to reality. He switched off the television and forced his body off the couch.

"Sora!"

Sora jolted as he heard the urgency in the voice. He opened the door, only to find Roxas standing on the other side. A very pale Roxas. "What's wrong?" He asked with concern.

"You've gotta come with me! Kairi's in trouble!"

That made him jump. "What?"

"Namine called me when they got home. Kairi was fine and then all of sudden she started vomiting and couldn't breathe properly so they went to the hospital!" Roxas exasperated, his hands flying frantically in front of his face. It looked like he was about to cry. "Her life is in danger!"

"Is she okay? Did they find out what's wrong?!" Sora asked, practically shouting the questions at the blond. He quickly ran inside to grab his wallet and keys.

"I don't know but we have to go," Roxas puffed out. He shut the door with his foot and ushered Sora to his car. "The last I heard from Namine is that she's currently in intensive care and the docs said it wasn't looking too good."

"Oh, shit!" Sora widened his eyes in horror. "Let's go!"

The two ran to Roxas' car and slammed the door shut. The engine roared with life as Roxas turned the gears quickly and sped down the road towards the hospital.

'Please be okay, Kai...' Sora pleaded internally and clapped his hands together. 'Please, please, please...'

There was a brief silence between the two as Sora was left with his thoughts. With every passing scenery, Sora was starting to get less stress and more confused. He knew the quickest route to the hospital and this wasn't it. When Roxas made the wrong turn to go right instead of left, it confirmed his suspicion. "This isn't the way to the hospital, Roxas."

Roxas swallowed. "There's some road work so we're taking the long way."

"O-kay..." Sora said slowly.

The car came to a sudden stop and he looked outside. They were at the beach. Not just any beach. Huge attractions and rides filled the once empty space where the warm sand used to be. Bright lights flashed towards them in all sorts of colours as cheerful tones echoed throughout the evening. Families and children of all sorts ran past the entrance excitedly to get to the games quickly.

"What are we doing at the festival?" Sora asked. "We need to go to the hospital!"

"Well, um," Roxas struggled to think of an excuse, tapping on the steering wheel nervously. "We can't because - " a flash of red caught his eye. " - hey! Look! It's Kairi!"

Sora turned his head to his left and saw her. Indeed, there she was standing by the entrance. Instantly, his previous thoughts came flooding back and panic rose in his chest again. He bolted out the door, immediately muttering a small apology to the festival guests he had to squeeze past through to get to her.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled. He held her by her shoulders. "Are you okay? What happened?!"

Kairi was taken back. "Huh?"

"Roxas said that you were vomiting and couldn't breathe and you went to the hospital and the doctors said you were in intensive care and you weren't going to make it - "

"Wait, slow down," Kairi stopped him. "What are you talking about?"

Sora furrowed his brows. "But Roxas... he said that... " He took a good look at her. There was no sign of illness on her whatsoever. Her cheeks flushed slightly, with make up he observed, as she frowned and pushed a stray piece of hair behind her ears. He noticed that she was wearing a light pink dress with some brown mini heels to match. She was dressed to impress, not to go straight to the emergency room. "You're sick?"

Kairi took his hands off of her shoulders and held them in hers gently. "I'm fine. Don't worry," she smiled softly.

He let out a breath of relief. "Thank goodness."

"I guess you're the one who Ventus told me to give this to."

Sora felt his annoyance starting to build again when he saw Kairi took out a ticket from her purse. Right there in front of him was the same orange ticket that Ventus wanted to give him earlier! His head turned sharply back towards Roxas car but it was out of sight. A sudden tone alerted him from his pocket that he had a text message from Roxas. He opened it up and it read:

Payback for last time.

Sora groaned. Damn it! He got tricked! Ventus must have told Roxas to bring him here! On one hand, he was annoyed. But on the other, overall he was just relieved that she was safe.

"You still owe me a date, right?" Kairi grinned cheekily. "We should use it!"

"Oh, um..." Sora scratched the back of his head. He looked at the ticket and then back to Kairi. This must be the reason why he is here. He frowned as the image of her slowly started to replace Kairi like it did previously in the cafe. 'Not this again,' he groaned internally. Fear started to cloud his mind as his heart started to speed faster. "About that..." He took a deep breath and looked away. This was all too much for him.

Sensing his hesitation, Kairi rubbed her arms nervously. Her gaze lowered to the ground. "We don't have to go in if you don't want to. "

At the falter of her voice, Sora looked up. The image of her had suddenly vanished but his heart softened when he saw the way Kairi looked at him.

Wait a minute.

Sora frowned again. He knew that it must have been Ventus' dumb idea to make them go to the festival together but Kairi still went along with it. She dressed up for him. She wore heels. Her hair is straightened. She put in effort in order for him to think she looked beautiful. She wanted this to happen. And in the very bottom of his heart, he did too. He couldn't deny that much.

"No," Sora stated. With enormous strength, he shook out his thoughts and plastered a wide smile on his face. "Let's go."

Kairi lit up. "Yeah!"

On the other side of the festival entrance hidden between palm trees, Roxas, now don in a dark blue cap and sunglasses, watched the two from a distance. Such an appearance was earning him strange looks left and right from the citizens around him but he didn't care. A smile curved on his lips when he saw them walk towards the entrance together hand in hand. Taking out his cellphone, he sent a message out to the group:

Mission accomplished.

Three shows, five roller coasters and eight corn dogs later, the two collapsed on a nearby bench. Kairi laughed as she rubbed her stomach. "Honey, I think I'm pregnant."

"Must be twins."

Sora laughed as Kairi hit his arm in retaliation. His eyes trailed over the festival. If he had known that he would have this much fun a few hours ago, he wouldn't have rejected Ventus' tickets earlier. Suddenly, a loud crash caught his attention from the left. He looked towards the nearby game stall where a young child was glowing with glee. But the main thing that attracted him to the game was the certain bright green nerf gun he was holding up in victory.

His lips twitch upwards. "How do you feel about one more game?"

Kairi looked over to the stall before turning back towards him. "Bring it on."

Grinning at each other, the two stood up and headed towards the stall. The owner greeted them with enthusiasm as they got closer. "Two games, please!" Sora handed over the munny.

"Of course, son." The owner smiled at him and gave them each a nerf gun. "See those cans?" He nodded towards the stack of metal white cans on the wall in front of them. There was three cans in total. Two on the bottom and one on top. "The aim is to knock all of them down. You only get five shots and once you run out of ammo you're finished. The more cans you knock down, the more points that you get."

"Sounds easy!" Kairi exclaimed. She grabbed the nerf gun excitedly and sat down on the chair. "I can do this in one shot!"

"Heh," Sora smirked as he took the seat next to her. "So can I."

"I'd like to see you try!"

The owner counted them down. "Get ready. One, two, three, shoot!"

Both of them pulled the trigger simultaneously before a loud crash was heard.

"YES!" Sora cried out excitedly. He pointed his nerf gun up in the air. "One shot!"

"What!" Kairi cried out. She stopped to look at him in shock. All of his cans were knocked down. "That was such a fluke!"

Sora grinned as he returned the nerf gun to the owner. His grin grew when he saw that all of her of cans were still standing. "Aww, Kai. Don't be mad." He tossed his hair back with effect. "Only some people are born with natural talent."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Here you go, son." The owner handed him a few yellow tickets. "You can redeem them over by that tent. Not many people can earn 300 points in one shot."

"Well..." Sora glanced at Kairi, who was still trying. Her nerf gun was leveled on her shoulder as she aimed with one eye closed. She pushed the trigger, missing the cans completely. "Some people just need to learn how to aim."

Kairi gave him a nasty side eye.

"How many shots do you have left, Kai?" Sora asked her.

"Just three," Kairi sighed. She aimed her gun again at the cans. "Okay, I got this! I just need to concentrate." Pressing the trigger, she tried again. "Damn it!"

Sora laughed.

In annoyance, she aimed the nerf gun at him and pushed the trigger.

That only made him laugh harder. He didn't even have to dodge. "You missed." He smirked. "Again."

"Shut up!"

If Sora didn't hold her gun down she would have wasted her last shot on him. Taking his hand off, the redhead instantly went back to concentrating on the stack of cans. From the outside, her aim was pointed to the target yet her arms were shaking like crazy. It was painful just watching her. Before she could pull the trigger again, Sora blurted out, "You're doing it wrong."

Kairi frowned. "Like you can do any better."

Without warning, Kairi found him standing behind her, his head leveling down with hers. His left hand holding onto the nose of the nerf gun while his right was on top of hers, with their fingers against the trigger.

"Sora, what - "

"Shh," he leaned in closer until she could feel his breath across her ear. "Just trust me."

This time, she was too stunned to move as he pushed a stray hair back away from his view, sending tingles down her spine. "Okay..." her voice was faint as she struggled to get the word out. She took a deep breath and felt her body physically loosen up.

Sora was, however, utterly unfazed. "Close your left eye and aim for the middle of the cans."

She nodded and moved the nerf gun as his instruction. She was starting to feel weak against the sensations he stirred inside of her.

"And, now... shoot!"

Kairi felt him push down the trigger with her. Her mouth parted in shock when the bullet knocked the top can off the wall.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed, jumping in joy. She turned to Sora, beaming up at him. Her arms wrapped around his middle tightly. "I l hit something!"

"You did it!" Sora cheered, hugging her back. He leaned forward so his forehead was leaning against hers, looking back into her eyes. "Good job!"

"Thanks to you - " She stopped when she suddenly got conscious about how close they were. Just the way he was looking at her made those warm fuzzy feelings come back to her.

After a few lingering seconds, Sora finally backed off. It was only a glimpse but she caught the blush in his cheeks before he turned his head away from hers.

"Here you go, miss."

The voice from the stall owner brought Kairi back to reality. She grabbed the tickets that was held out to her with glee. "Thanks so much."

"We should collect our prizes," Sora stated, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Um, yeah," Kairi agreed with him.

She followed him along to the gigantic prize tent in silence. She didn't know what to say without feeling embarrassed.

"How many points did you get?" Sora suddenly asked.

Kairi counted her tickets. "100 points." She looked around the stall. There were several toys and lollies, each costing varying amounts on tickets. The prizes ranged from lowest to highest with the lowest being lollies and key chains to the highest, the legendary paopu fruit. "I don't think I can get anything."

He looked at her calculatingly before holding his hand out. "Can I have it then?"

"Why?" Kairi asked. "You can't buy anything with this."

"It should be enough for a lolly or two."

Kairi shrugged and handed him her tickets. "If you say so."

She watched him go back to the counter while she went outside to wait for him. The once bright sunny sky was now a mixture of dark blue and orange. Truth be told, she was a bit disappointed. Not that she didn't win as many points as Sora did, but that another day was ending. Her eyes watched the people passing by with big smiles on their faces. She sighed softly. She was really going to miss this.

Pulling out her phone, she noticed there was a few messages from the group she shared with Namine, Roxas and Ventus.

Namine: How's the date going?

Roxas: I knew Sora would fall for this!

Ventus: I'm so happy this worked.

Kairi grinned. Ventus was the first to come up with the plan. When he had messaged her that he wanted her to go to the festival, of course she was skeptical. Even more so when he mentioned that she would be meeting someone for a date. She initially scoffed at the idea. Who would want to go on a blind date when it was her last day being on the islands? But then Roxas and Namine caught wind of the plan and that's when all hell came loose. With great persistence from the three of them combined, she caved and finally agreed to go. And quite frankly, she was glad to see that at the end it was Sora who turned up out of all people.

"Think fast!"

By some miracle, Kairi turned around in time to catch the flying object that was aiming for her face. She opened her hand and her mouth parted slightly in surprise. It was a small plush paopu key ring.

"What's this?" She asked Sora curiously.

"That's for you." Sora replied. His grin grew wider. "I got one too."

Kairi felt that same warm feeling rise in her chest again when she saw the matching key ring dangling from his fingers. "Thank you." She squeezed the key ring tightly and attached it to her purse.

Sora looked up at the darkening sky then back at his phone. "The fireworks should be on soon." He grabbed her hand. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

Sora dragged her down the street. "Somewhere nice. I promise."

"It's hard to see that when we're exiting the festival to see the fireworks that are, you know, meant to be in the festival, not out of it." Kairi stated as a matter-of-fact. She pushed past another person, mumbling a small apology to them. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

He grinned at her and kept going. "Just trust me."

She rolled her eyes and for once, decided to stop asking questions.

As they got further down the street, the noise of people cheering and chattering got softer. Sora led them down a dark staircase at the side of a bridge. Soon, the lights disappeared and only the shine of the moonlight was seen, casting a white shine on their faces. The sound of the ocean grew louder as they reached the final step.

"Believe me now?" Sora grinned when he saw the look on her face.

Kairi gasped softly at their surroundings. "This is beautiful..." She said in awe. Her lips curved up as she looked around the secluded beach. Sure, she had seen many beaches before but not one like this. Clean white sand laid on the shore while the sky above them was clear from clouds. The stars shined brightly as they reflected on the ocean. Dark waves softly crashed on the shore below them calmly.

"Yeah," Sora agreed as they walked along the pier. He nodded upwards to the cliff on the right. "And we have a perfect view of the fireworks."

She looked up and saw the festival on the cliff next to them. The starry night up above them was dark and spacious. It was indeed the perfect viewing ground. He sat down on the edge and patted the space next to him, prompting her to join him.

"How did you find out about this place?" Kairi asked curiously.

He stiffened. "It was an accident, really."

She cocked her head to the side at him.

Sora closed his eyes. "Remember that girl I told you about a while ago when I was in high school? I wanted to see the fireworks with her but she rejected me before that. I still went to the festival anyway but after a while I couldn't stand to be here anymore. So, I ran," he recalled with a small chuckle. He opened his eyes and stared into the starlit sky. "Out of the festival, down the steps, and rolled onto this beach."

Kairi was quiet as she listened to his story. Her expression was still. She knew that he could be sensitive to this particular topic.

"But lately, I've come to understand that maybe that was a good thing."

Her head shot up, surprised at the sincerity in his voice. She wasn't expecting that. "What do you mean?"

"If that didn't happen I wouldn't have come to the Corner Cafe." Sora turned towards her. "I wouldn't have met you."

Her cheeks started to heat up. "Me too," she mumbled softly. Lying down next to him, she turned away to look up at the starry sky in embarrassment.

"Hey, remember when we first met?" Sora suddenly said, interrupting her thoughts. "You told me you hated coffee but now you drink it every day." He grinned. "That was the first time I had ever created my own drink. I was really proud of it."

Kairi quirked a brow. "You were proud of that?"

"Of course! It was a work of art."

She rolled her eyes. "You know, when I think about it, every since that day a lot of things have happened." Turning back, she narrowed her eyes at him sharply. "Like that time you stole my bag and forced me to get in the car with you!"

"Hey!" Sora held his hands up in defence."That was for your own good."

"But who knows what you would have done to me!"

"Yet it didn't stop you from beating me up!"

"Because I thought you were going to attack me! Plus, you told me all about your murder plan!"

"That I didn't act upon." Sora huffed out before he smirked. "Yet."

She sat right up quickly. "Sora!"

"But," Sora chuckled and looked wistfully back out onto the ocean. "Then you forced me to try sea-salt ice-cream and nutella crepes..."

"I went out with Riku," Kairi continued, almost in amusement to himself. "We also met Roxas..."

"And there was that day you fell off the cliff!" Sora laughed. "What a klutz!"

Kairi glared at him. "I wonder who came rolling after me."

"Sorry that I wanted to see if you were okay."

"Yeah..." Kairi trailed off slowly. A million thoughts suddenly plunged through her head. "You always do."

She looked up at him while he stared back down. Her mouth parted slightly but no words came out. There was something in him that made her lose all sense of control. The same something that was there the day he ran around the medical centre looking for her. The same something that made the shivers run down her spine. The same something that made her feel like she could melt right there on the spot.

Part of her wanted to deny to every single piece of evidence that pointed to the obvious but the way he was making her feel left absolutely no doubt in Kairi's heart. She could no longer make excuses for herself.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

That snapped her out of her trance instantly.

"Wow!" Kairi wondered out loud when another colour combusted in the sky. Shades of blue and pink reflected on their faces as they looked up in the sky in delight.

She turned back towards him. A smile crept on her face as she watched him. He was like a kid. Every once in a while, he would go 'ohh' and 'ahh'. She giggled watching him getting excited over all the bright colours. The way his eyes lit up with each burst made her feel happy.

"Sora..." She whispered. With all the noise from the fireworks, he didn't hear her.

Heart racing, palms sweaty, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Despite the situation, in that very moment, everything felt right. Not because of the place, not because of the timing. But because it was the right person.

"I like you."

Suddenly, there was only the sound of silence echoing throughout the dark beach. Painfully, she heard the sound of the fireworks starting again. A feeling of dread overcame her as realisation hit her. It could only mean one thing:

He heard her!

'Oh my god!' Kairi wanted to throw herself against a wall at the moment. She honestly didn't mean for her feelings to come out but it just did. In the silence between fireworks no less. Nerves were starting to get the best of her as she scratched the back of her head frantically, unsure on how to lead the conversation. It didn't help that he wasn't saying anything back either.

Kairi peered open one eye to him. One look was all it took to confirm her thoughts. He was looking down at her with wide eyes, almost as if he was shocked. The fireworks started to slow down and soon came to a stop but that didn't stop the awkward silence that was hanging in the air.

"Do you mean it?"

Kairi felt her cheeks heat up even more at his question. She was so, so embarrassed. Mesmerized, she watched him held her hands in his gently. His action was so light yet it made that same warm feeling rise in her chest again. The way he was looking at her with such a genuine expression was calming her down. Suddenly something changed within her. Unlike before, she started to relax and squeezed his hands back. "I do," she admitted. There was no point in hiding it now. She looked up at him with a shy smile. "I like you, Sora."

For a split second, Sora felt a bubble of joy. He couldn't help it. "Kai - "

"I'm leaving tomorrow."

"I don't know when I'm coming back."

Sora stopped his sentence midway. That bubble was suddenly encased in a metallic terror as their previous conversation replayed in his head. Over and over again.

The next thing Kairi felt was coldness. The warmth wrapped around her hands had disappeared. Before she could question him, Sora jumped up, landing on his feet. His back was turned away from her, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

"It's getting late," he stated coldly.

Kairi blinked. Just like that, the moment was gone in an instant. Her mouth opened to speak but no sound came out.

"We should go home," Sora continued. He took a step forward but stopped suddenly when he found he was blocked by a certain someone. Once again, just like before, the vision of her came back to him. Feeling overwhelmed, he closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. Why now of all times?!

"Wait, hold on," Kairi stood her ground from behind him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are we going?" Kairi started to look worried when he started to look apprehensive. "There's something bothering you, isn't there? You can tell me."

Sora swallowed. His anxiety was starting to hit its peak. "It's - " this time, she was laughing at him. " - not that simple."

"Explain it to me then."

Sora shook his head in frustration. He couldn't concentrate when she was right there. "I can't!"

With that, faster than Kairi could ever imagine, Sora ran and never looked back. His heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach as he felt Kairi watch him trailing quickly to the beach and up the stairs. The feeling in his chest was so heavy, it was unbearable. He needed a moment alone - stat!

Author's note:

Sorry for the delay!

I was trying to clear space on my laptop a few weeks ago and I found all these random snippets of this story, and you know what? Once you add them all together, it becomes a chapter! Well... sort of. Haha. It's been a while and I don't really write anymore so please forgive me for any grammar and spelling errors. But you guys deserve an ending to this story.

Anyway, I hope this chapter made sense, like in terms of Sora's hallucinations. It should be a bit more clearer in the next chapter or so... if there is one... *shifty eyes*

Thanks everyone! :)

|08-02-2020|