Never Enough - Sora/Kairi
Title - Never Enough
Word Count - 752
Genre - Romance/Tragedy
Character(s) - Sora, Kairi
Rating - G
Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.
Notes - This piece recently won second place in a contest over on fanfiction.net (I know, I know, but there are some rather talented writers over there). The prompt was along the lines of "where do we go from here" in relation to the Sora/Kairi pairing. I really enjoyed writing it, but never really liked how I wrote Kairi. I'll probably attempt her character again soon. Concrit is appreciated...
It has been days.
It has been days since the door was opened, since the wielder and the vagabond stepped through the brilliant epitome of light and crashed into the waiting ocean. Days since a brunette-(blonde) haired boy had returned a smiling charm to an equally smiling princess (memory witch). Days since the eternal night the three of them had spent on the shore, talking of halcyon moments and wondering if their world (home) would ever be the same.
It has been weeks.
It has been weeks, and Kairi sits at the docks to watch the sunset, fiddling with a letter that sent congratulatory words, not ones of warning or insistent orders. Her feet dangle in the water, eyes trailed on the fire in the east; and her mind is far, far away; set on the boy who started and ended this for her, who came home and doesn’t know what to do (because, after all they went through, who would?). Kairi whispers his name to the twilight air and wonders how much he has changed; how different he became while battling the shadows.
She thinks she feels his heart calling her before she hears his voice - the warmth that fills her chest is so sudden that a gasp is ripped from her throat - and then she turns at the sound of his sandaled feet striking the slats of wood as he makes his way towards her.
They talk; and later, Kairi forgets what they were talking about because she can only focus on his eyes and the way the breeze plays with his hair, and how the sun glints off of his necklace. But then he’s leaning in close to her, brushing her cheek with his fingertips and his voice has become a whisper, but she still doesn’t hear it because she wants whatever happens next; wants it so desperately, because she’s so afraid that she’ll wake up one day and he and Riku will be gone (despite all the promises they made), and the beaches will be empty except for the waiting princess.
And then he presses his lips to hers, and her train of thought snaps as she falls into his embrace. One arm goes around her waist as her hands tangle in his hair, and when they break apart he still keeps her body pressed to him. Kairi doesn’t mind, though, and just buries her head in the crook of his neck and inhales his scent, and wonders at the notion that he is everything good in her life. She loves him so much that it’s painful (and he feels the exact same way).
But then he says I’m sorry, and gently takes her shoulders, unwinding her arms from around his neck. At first she thinks that he’s being nervous, that this is just awkwardness, but then she sees his eyes and her breath catches in her throat; they are filled with anguish.
A cold trickle of fear starts in her belly as he takes her hands and places them in her lap. Sora, she whispers, what’s going on? He just stands and looks out to the setting sun, the crimson turning to purple as the night claims the island. When he doesn’t answer, Kairi scrambles to her feet and takes his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.
She knows he’s leaving, even if he doesn’t tell her; she can feel it when his shaking hands brush the hair out of her face. She wants to yell and scream at him, make him stay: How can you just leave us?
But she knows that won’t do anything, because he’s changed. He’s changed so much.
He whispers three words into her ear, words that she didn’t need to hear because they had both known it for years. They both knew that there had always been something.
She doesn’t want to cry; she wants to go with him, to battle the darkness by his side, to experience the worlds over, to be there when all seems lost and help him stand back up...
But what he says to her nearly breaks her heart.
Remember me.
It has been months.
It has been years.
Kairi has broken her own promises.
She still loves him; she loves him so terribly and with such compassion that she had thought it would stand the test of time; that it would reach across the multi-verse and find him.
Where were we, Sora? What happened to us?
She knows she was wrong.