A/N: Here's my second chapter! Hope you like it. Let me know what you guys think! :)

Chapter 2: Wayfinder

All Kairi could hear was the music. She couldn't think, she couldn't move. At this moment in time, all that existed was just the song. She wasn't aware of the audience gazing up at her, in wonder. Her lips moved, producing a melodic sound like sunshine spilling through the clouds on a summer day. She hit each note like water droplets gently falling on a still pond, perfect ripples of noise coming together. Singing was her thing. It didn't matter what mood she was in, or what the day had brought for her. Singing was always right. She could feel her emotions pour out of her, leaving her feeling lighter. It wasn't that she cared so much about being in choir during her high school years, she just wanted an excuse to sing everyday.

Applause broke out as the music faded out, causing Kairi to snap out of the moment she was caught in. Everything suddenly came into focus. She was on stage, at her final recital for choir. Each senior was given the opportunity to audition for a solo, and pick their own song if they were selected. This was Kairi's. It was called "Blue", and it meant a lot to her. Music got her through her hard times, and singing was the best way for her to express her feelings. She was decent at it, to say the least, and she thought of it as just an added bonus. To match her song, she wore a black knee length pencil skirt with a sky blue ruffled blouse embellished with glitter and sequins to make it sparkle under the pale stage lights. To finish her look, she wore matching blue heels with a simple blue gem studs in her ears. She bowed slightly and walked off stage.

It took her a second to realize her heart was pounding.

"Phew..." Kairi closed her eyes and took deep breaths to slow her heart rate down a bit.

"Kairi, you did wonderful tonight." A voice called out from behind her. She turned to see her instructor, Miss Gainsborough beaming at her. She had a voice that rang out like bells and sounded soft and sweet like the purest golden honey.

Her lips curled into a soft smile that appeared warm and gentle, like a freshly lit candle. However, it flickered and was gone as quickly as it came. "Thanks, but after today no more singing or choir for me. I won't have time for it when I start school..."

"Oh, well, you shouldn't look at it that way...you have all the time in the world still to sing, you know." Her smile didn't falter as she handed Kairi a bouquet of blue hydrangeas with baby's breath and beargrass.

"To...go with your blue theme. They're from my garden. They're the only flower that seems to be able to survive in my garden. It thrives where others cant." Miss Gainsborogh finished.

"You didn't have to..." Kairi began, but was interrupted when her teacher grabbed her free hand and held it in both of hers.

"Don't stop singing! You've got an amazing voice. Sing everyday, and remember your time here when you 're like a vivid flower, yourself. Strong and resilient. Oh, and hurry, you've got to get back on stage and take your bow with the whole choir! Go on now!"

"I've never...been called a flower before...but okay." She thought, and for some reason she found herself picturing a rainy day.

With a sigh, Kairi turned and took a step towards the white light one last time.

Kairi hadn't seen Selphie in a few days. Graduation had come, and passed without conflict. She hadn't spoken to anyone else, and when she passed them, kept her eyes straight ahead but she could feel them look away. She was a freak, and she knew it. She had self-confidence issues, she knew, and she was very much aware that she did not do well in social situations. She had a bad habit of burning bridges when it came to her friends. She'd had close friends over the years, but whenever a problem arose, Kairi let her pride get to her and she'd cut them loose. She shouldn't have let it happen to Selphie. But then, what kind of friend was Selphie anyway? Reflecting on the past year, she realized that Selphie really only criticized her and brought her even further down. Maybe it was for the best that this happened? She could no longer tell. The graduation ceremony was over but Kairi decided to stick around at the school until the rest of her graduation headed home to prepare themselves for the grad night celebration. She wouldn't be attending.

Kairi was laying sprawled out on the concrete rooftop of her school's performing arts building. She went there often. She'd study, listen to music, and space out. When she opened her eyes, she was met with a dull, gray sky. It was a dreary day.

"I knew I'd find you here. Little miss anti-social. Congrats being our class salutatorian. " She sat up to see Tidus standing in the doorway of the entrace to the rooftop.

"Hmph. Thanks for reminding me," Kairi thought, "Lenzo barely beat me for top of the class...aaargh."

She frowned. "You know me too well, apparently."

The boy with the short blonde hair and ocean blue eyes chuckled at sat down next to her.

"Selphie told me about your phone call with her recently. I told her she was kinda makin' too big a deal about it, but you know how she is." He wasn't looking at her now, he was staring up at the sky.

Kairi condsidered for a moment. "So they're all probably gossiping their asses off about me...of course."

"She's being a major drama queen. I'm not trying to get all caught up in that stuff."

Tidus looked at her quizzically. "Drama queen or not, I think you're both nuts. You've each got your own crap to deal with. Why not just make up and head off to your fancy college with no bad feelings?" He jumped to his feet and looked down at her.

"You outta just kiss and make up. Or kiss and make out. That works too. Definitely. Yep actually you should just make out. Seeexy." He big smile appeared on his face as he finished speaking.

Kairi pursed her lips. She gave him a hard stare. "Tidus, you outta grow up for once. Did Selphie send you to talk to me?" She stood up and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

His eyes widened and he fell to the ground clutching his shoulder. Kairi stood over him and rolled her eyes. "Oh please..."

"Kairi! You're such a hard-ass sometimes. Take a chill pill. Screw it, you should just overdose sometime! But anyhow, you could surely benefit from a little immaturity now and then." He got back to his feet and brushed his pants off. Kairi shifted her weight to her right leg and crossed her arms scowling at him.

"Yeah whatever, don't look at me like that!" He walked back over to the rooftop entrance. He turned to give her one final look. "Seriously, you girls are all trouble if you ask me. I'd rather go to sleep each night gazing at a poster of my one true love...oooh Yuna you are such a babe.." He sighed dreamily and went through the door, closing it behind him.

"He sure is something else...I swear." Kairi thought, shaking her head.

It didn't really matter if Tidus was playing the messenger for not, she just knew it was a bad idea to buy into whatever Tidus and Wakka told her. They'd never say anything to her face, but Kairi knew they would talk behind her back. Tidus was so fake sometimes that it really got on her nerves. He'd play the class clown and all around nice guy, but he'd secretly choose sides and backstab anyone to keep his social status up. Kairi checked the time on her cell. School had been out for almost and hour, and it was time for her to head to work. It was her last day, and she knew she'd actually be kind of sad to be leaving her job behind. Working at the Highwind Gummi Ship repair shop had actually been one of Kairi's better high school experiences.

"Oh Merlin, this is not going to be a pleasant good bye. Cid is going to be pissed and is going to take me leaving the shop way too personally..."

Kairi took a deep breath as she pulled open the glass door to Cid's gummi repair shop, ignoring the "closed" sign hanging in the window. When Kairi entered the old shop, Cid was no where to be found. She glanced around the front office, taking in the sights for the last time. The inside was dark and dingy, smelling of old leather, and with minimal decoration. There were two rust colored armchairs on the right side of the room, with a circular wooden table between them. On the other side of the office was the counter which Kairi spent her evenings behind. It was wooden, but had a faux granite finish. There was a single service bell sitting next to a business card holder. In the four years Kairi had worked in that office, not once had she heard anyone ring the bell. Her eyes wandered over to the silk orchid arrangement which also sat on the counter. They were purple cymbidiums,and upon seeing them Kairi smiled slightly, remembering. She'd been only working for Cid for a week and the place was so drab and boring (not to mention smelled like a mixture of old people and oil) so she took it upon herself to make her work environment a little brighter. She walked around the counter and sat in her brown leather office chair. She'd kept the desk behind the counter pristine all the years she worked there and the only things that were ever left out were the old telephone, and the office supplies. The only up to date piece of equipment was the Eraqus Enterprises computer. Everything was always filed away and in its proper place. She'd also brought in a small cork board to post up new orders, or the names of clients that Cid needed to get in touch with. She tapped her manicured nails on the desk a minute before deciding to check the voice messages for the day.

"You have 0 new messages. To listen to saved messages press-" Kairi hung up the phone and bit her lip.

"That's weird...there's always at least one new message. And where the heck is Cid at?" She thought to herself, as she began to fill with worry.

Did he forget today was her last day? Or maybe, he was so angry with her for leaving that he was going to work out of the shop today and not say anything to her. Normally he was already there, with a frown on his face, waiting to bark orders at her. She got on the computer and went through the part orders. Everything had already been received, and all new parts had been ordered. Wait..was she really supposed to come in today? It was Friday, 5:12pm. Yes, she should be there. Her shift would end at 9 but most nights she stayed until 10 anyway. Cid would always yell at her to go home and grumble about child labor laws and the like. She'd just laugh, and tell him to get on with his work. Regardless of their hostile relationship, Cid was like the father figure she'd never had.

She stared down her time card. Should she even write her hours? She slowly wrote in the name and date lines with her neat, tiny print. At that moment, the door burst open and Cid came stomping through the door. She nearly jumped out of her chair, and upon doing so, drew a line down the timecard.

Cid was around the age of thirty-five (he'd never say), about 5'8 in height, with short blonde hair. He always wore goggles on his head and had a spare cigarette tucked behind his left ear. He usually wore a plain white t-shirt, and plain blue cargo pants.

"Heeey kiddo! Sorry I'm late. Shera's got me runnin' all sorts of errands today! There was bad traffic on the way too, this one wise guy thought he'd cut me off so I flipped him the bird and told him to go-"

Kairi stood up and made a gesture for him to stop. "Cid, hey, I get the point."

"Uhhh right...now anyway..." He began.

Kairi cut him off again. "Today is my last day. All the work is done. What is this all about?" She demanded.

"Geez kid, hold on to your drawers and let me explain!" He set a small box on the counter and took out a cigarette. Before she could stop him he lit it and let out a huge puff of smoke.

"Ughhh how many times have I told him not to smoke in here!" She thought angrily, clenching her fists. She stayed silent.

"Since today is your last day, I decided I just wanted you to take the night off. Also, I got a little somethin' for you." He motioned towards the box.

It had no wrapping paper, and in fact she could see nothing special about it. It was just a plain brown box, slightly bent on one side. She cocked her head to one side and raised an eyebrow.

"Really Cid...? I never knew you to be the sentimental type."

He just shrugged. "Quit your yappin' and open it already!"

She eyed him suspiciously but slowly grabbed the box and opened it.

"One person can only have so many miniture gummi ship models...huh...?" Her fingers closed around a pointed object as she lifted it out of its packaging.

She looked at the star shaped trinket that was roughly the size of her opened palm. It was made of some kind of shell, and was made up of five seperate pieces. Gray stitches in the shape of x's held them all in place. The middle of the star was a pale yellow, and it faded to pink at the points. A small crown sat in the center.

"What...is this?" She finally looked up at Cid.

"It's a wayfinder made of thalassa shells. They can only be found on the Destiny Islands. Think of it as a good luck charm..." He scratched his head. "...and a thank you for all the work you've done around this place."

"Cid?" Kairi said quietly.

"Your not gonna get all teary-eyed on me now are you? I thought you were a tough kid."

Kairi shook her head quickedly and ignored the lump in her throat.

"Nothing, hey, it's just that...um, I mean...thanks."

"It's the least I could do. How about we meet up with Shera and grab a bite to eat? I'm starvin' and you could tell us all about your plans for summer."

Kairi nodded and hurried to gather her things. They closed up shop together, and Kairi headed out into the night with a smile on her face.