Re: Final Distance (Sora/Riku Complete)

[Ellie who has 0%]

KairiFinal Distance Rmx

Eyes stared blankly glued to the natural ebbs and flows of the vivid ocean. The lids didn't droop in hypnotisim of a dazed day-dreaming teenager, but one who was deep in thought. Despite how still Kairi was, she was very live and not brain dead, which was evident as freshly painted power pink nailed with white flower decor fingers juggled her lucky charm, a slightly warn flower made of sea-shells. She had birthed a new obsession to keep it intact, but with her deep concentration, she didn't noticed how she was scrapping her nails against like a clawing feline.

With a slow blinked, she hiked up her knees closer to her chest. She made sure her legs was together, a mannerism drilled in from motherly session of ladylikness. Her white summer dress ruffled at her knees revealing khaki shorts. A complimenting pair of white sandals layed next to her cascaded on the sand carelessly, while her toes went on a digging expedition in the sand.

Finally life flowed from her in an exhale as a thought bugged the daylights out of her. Why did she felt like she was saying goodbye...as if there was a chance she would never see this place again? The questions were rhetorical, but that didn't stop a girl from dreaming that someone can read her mind to settle her inner tormoil and give her the answers that would settle both conflicting parties.

"If only it was that easily," she mumbled under her breath before flopping back on the sand in mock exhaustion not caring about the forbidden relationship of any dirt with white clothes and clean hair. "I want some juice."

With a groan she rolled over her stomach looking at the sand, while using her arms as a pillow, "where is icecream when Kairi needs it...or a Sora or Riku to get Kairi icecream or a smoothiie?"

Where is Ren and Stimpy anyway...or would it be Yogi and Boo-Boo? Perhaps it would be Red Power Ranger, Blue Power Ranger, and I'm the pink one. The thought of being dubbed 'the pink one' left a blegh taste in her mouth. Sure she loved pink, but not 'the pink one'; it sounded like a new Destiny Island disease...or the unnoticed tag-along heroine. Ooh maybe Batman, Robin, and I'm Bat Girl.

Her brows scrunched, and her nose wrinkled. She wondered who would be which, the Batman and Robin. Before she can get ankle deep in the thought, Kairi stopped; she had come to learn the ordeals of boys and their masculinity...it was on the same level as hair, fashion, and bra sizes for Selphie. It was just a realm no one treads into willingly, especially if they don't want to put up with macho competition.

Still...atleast they would be an original pair, a dynamic duo, then a stick in character of Bat Girl. Heck for her age, why wasn't she called Batwoman. Kairi's skill of self-distraction brought her back to square one. Uuugh, I don't want to be a bat girl or the pink one. I've already been a princess.

Her facial expression flattened realizing she was playing the damsel role with that title twice. ...I want to be Batman...

[Zephiris]

It had been a year. Nearly nine thousand hours since he'd been silhouetted against a blazing door of light, returning home at last from the most trying period of his life. Every day after that one, he had told himself that it wasn’t over; he’d be out seeking danger and challenge again soon. He wasn’t ready to settle down yet. He hadn’t gone through all that just to spend the rest of his days lounging in Destiny Islands.

And yet, he was still here.

Five hundred thousand minutes later, and Riku mirrored the girl below him, gazing at the softly churning ocean as it lapped against the sand. He was lounging on a platform twenty feet above her, his weight supported by strong arms as his feet dangled from his wooden perch.

He had tried to leave, many times. He had gone to bed with the thought in his mind that tomorrow would be the day. I’m telling them that I’m leaving. And then he’d wake up and remember that he had school that day. Or that he had promised to meet Sora on the play island. They’d have such at blast that he’d be reluctant to bring it up. I’ll do it soon – just not today.

Riku was pulled from his thoughts as a movement below caught his attention. Kairi had flipped over onto her stomach, obviously not caring about the state of her white clothes or hair. He held back a smirk. People might have thought it strange, if anyone around here cared to notice.

With a slight sigh he leaned back on his hands, lifted his legs back underneath him, and rose to his feet. He strode over to the ladder and climbed down.

Upon reaching his friend, Riku bent to sit quietly on the other side of Kairi, unwilling to disturb the peace. He gazed at the waves alongside her for a few moments, one arm resting on a knee. “A penny for your thoughts?” he asked her after a bit, never taking his eyes off the brilliant, gentle waves.

((Edited slightly to exclude Namine.))

[Charme]

((Urg... I was not supposed to be in this thread. Sorry to be so awkward. :/ You may have to modify a little.))

[Ellie who has 0%]

"Mmm maybe then I would be able to buy myself a smoothie," Kairi replied, while lifting her elbow up to rest her head on, while turning side ways to face Riku versus having her back towards him. Her toes wiggled in the grains of the sand getting them as deep as they can for comfort. Her eyes casted down at the ever-moving ocean before back at Riku. "If it's only worth a penny, then it's not worth thinking about. It takes a while for one munny to count for anything."

Her owns words threw her off as she looked down at the sand keeping her confused expression at the ground, while her fingers dragged curves in the golden canvas. Feeling too much of the questions being turned on her, Kairi looked up at Riku seeing a distant look in his expression. Brows furrowed looking from him to what he was looking at so carefully; her lips pursed as she saw nothing, but ocean. To turn everything off of her, she reached out to poke Riku's side, "So what's up with you, you've been just as dazed as ever? You keep on doing that you'll be like Sora."

He had always been a day dreamer whether its in class or falling asleep under the hot yellow island sun right at the shore. Rolling on her back she sat herself up placing her elbows on her knees to hunch over on her chin rest. Kairi stayed silent as she looked at Riku with a childish doe expression waiting for him to say something. When she didn't hear anything, she reached out to poke his cheek, "Rikuku."

She knew the more she poked and stared the sooner he will blurt out something. Atleast that way she won't have to; she rather not spew out what's been racking her mind, since it was something she doesn't want to share just yet. Actually the moment she planned to share it they wouldn't be around her to say anything about it. Of-course she wished she didn't have to play it out that way, but she couldn't think of any other subtle way to break the ice.

[Zephiris]

Kairi's words caused Riku to raise his eyebrows slightly, the depth of her answer startling him, but he restored his serene mask as quickly as it had fallen. He mulled over the statement for a while. Then his train of thought shifted once more, and he found himself entranced by the glare of light reflected off the ocean. Riku's mind was racing. Now would be a good a time as ever to mention his plans for the future, tell his friend he was ready to leave the island, go visiting the worlds again. The indecision was eating at him, and he hated it. He was a man of action. So why was he hesitant to say anything?

It took him a second to realize he was being spoken to. He ignored the voice, and the pokes, for a while, but Kairi was persistent, and eventually his left side began to hurt. Riku rolled his eyes and turned his head to look at her, his mind calming as he pulled his gaze from the water. Her eyes were large and watching him intently.

Suddenly laughing, Riku reached out with one arm to push her over. He realized why he wasn't saying anything yet - she looked so peaceful here, in her element, comfortable lying in the sand and playing by the ocean. The only thing saying otherwise was her eyes, which were impossible for him to read right then.

They sprayed sand back and forth for a few moments, light-hearted, before Riku remembered something. He paused. "Hey, Kai. . . do you remember Jimmy? That one kid that used to bug the heck out of Wakka?" He grew quiet for a minute, before stating, "He's gone. Found his own way off the islands, I guess."

His brow furrowed for a moment, a bit confused as to why he had brought Jimmy up. The guy hadn't interacted with the trio very much, preferring to stick like glue to his gang back on the mainland. Riku hadn't spared him much thought until a few days ago, when he encountered his friends by chance and inquired off-handedly about the whereabouts of their companion - they had grinned, and informed him that Jimmy had moved.

"We kinda envy him. Dude's got his own life now, ya know?"

Riku didn't understand his thought process, nor did he want to try to explain it to Kairi. Instead he grinned at her. "He was always a crazy kid," he said, as dismissively as he could, and punched her playfully on the shoulder. "So what's up with you? The play island's no fun when you're here by yourself."

Oh the hypocrisy. Like he hadn't been here as often as she had, but in the cool of the Secret Place rather than the beach. Him and his shadows. Kairi and her sun.

[Ellie who has 0%]

Her began to tilt like a confused pup when he gave no response, but her finger was already a step ahead of her to poke him again, but in the cheek. Before the plot can be implemented, she felt her body jerk the opposite direction; luckily she didn't tip over her central balance to fall over, "Aaaaye."

Her remark was just a remark, because she couldn't help, but cracking a smile at his laughter, and there was the sign, Riku was still Riku and not a zombie islander. She resisted from tackling him down in the sand and sit on him for payback; it may proove to great a distraction of her previous inquisition. Seeing that the childishness as died down, her ears quirked at her nickname; he was going to spit out something.

Her eyes wandered in a guilty manner as she tried to remember the name he just thrown at her, Jimmy. Her lips bit down on the tip of her finger as she tried to recall this, Jimmy. Mentally she flipped through a series of school pictures trying to pin him in their school uniform, "Uuuh Jimmy that always talks trash in Blitzball Jimmy...but always tends to beat Wakka, Jimmy?"

"He's gone. Found his own way off the islands, I guess."

Brows furrowed together, since 'gone' wasn't the best word as possible. Gone could mean anything, especially with the universe experience she had. Gone could mean moved away to a different region, eaten by a heartless, or dragged away by some spikey red headed baffoon. Her eyes narrowed at the thought of such fiery red head. Shaking it off, Kairi looked at Riku in confusion. So Jimmy left, it really had no effect on them; heck she was having a hard time in remembering who in the worlds Jimmy was. It's not like he was Wakka, Selphie, Tidus, or Sora to them, but just another person they shared the world with.

Her mouth opened again, but words became gibbering at punch in her shoulder, which is swatted back in response. Her nose scrunched up at the predicament. Why couldn't the spotlight stay off of her for an hour or so? Why? "You should tell that to everyone else...they've become so busy with themselves, you know."

She referred to their friends that tend to come to the play islands; tend being the word meaning 'use to' or 'once was a regularity'. Selphie is all spiffy with her music and being...Selphie, which meant a lot. Boys will be boys, so Wakka and Tidus had their own thing that didn't really had to include her. "It's as if no matter what whether you poof for months or days, they still go on without you...everything seems different now."

"So what one can do here with everything...just rolling by," her eyes looked up at the clouds. Yes they were rolling by as well, but they had a greater range than the islanders. The islanders may distance themselves with their own lives, but the clouds can float beyond this world and towards the next, or so it seemed. To stop the silence she now made she snorted in a chuckle, "my mom is all for getting a side job or something. But where's the fun in that? Despite it all it seems this place always stayed the same, you know."

"Oh like the time we tried to played Blitzball in the ocean; the time we had that bonfire...and we had to sneak matches, ooh and the time we made that raft. That thing was quite sturdy just to say we made it."

[Zephiris]

Kairi was right, of course. The others hadn't been frequenting the play island as nearly as much as they used to. Riku could barely remember the last time he'd sparred with Tidus or Wakka, throwing playful insults back and forth as they whipped wooden rods about in the sun, Tidus cheating every so often with his Blitzball.

"It's as if no matter whether you poof for months or days, they still go on without you. . . everything seems different now."

Riku drew his eyes up to match the point of Kairi's gaze as she contemplated the clouds, tilting his head back and settling his weight on the palms of his hands. Despite his efforts, the mood had suddenly plummeted. Kairi must have felt it too; before the silence could reign much further, she broke it with a chuckle. He responded with a small ghost of a smirk, "Yeah. I know." His eyes drifted to the small sparring island with the grove of Paopu trees, the ones that never fell or died, even during the tropical storms that sometimes wreaked havoc on the isles. He suddenly wondered how many lives those trees had watched. How many kids they'd seen grow up on the play island, before abandoning it to go on with their lives.

Kairi was still talking. Riku listened with the same small grin as the events she recollected sparked memory after memory; an infuriated Tidus yelling at Selphie, who had lost his Blitzball to the waves; the laughter Riku initiated after losing his fourth marshmallow to the bonfire's flames; a paopu fruit, tossed with a smirk from his hands to Sora's. . .

On a whim, Riku summoned his keyblade. The weight of the Way to Dawn felt comfortable in his grasp. And all of a sudden, the sadness that he'd barely noticed blooming in his chest during their conversation was mitigated, and a liquid fire slowly pulsed through his veins in its place. He held the blade before him, brows raised.

He hadn't wielded his keyblade to save his life since returning from the Dark Margin. He and Sora had sparred on occasion, out of sight from the other inhabitants of the islands, and he'd summoned it multiple times during his quiet bouts of reminiscing, but he hadn't felt the once-familiar tinge of danger in a year. Riku tilted the blade slightly, the angelic wing at the top catching the light. He felt himself slowly coming to a decision.

Turning back to Kairi, Riku grinned. "Sorry," he said. An apology for zoning out on what she was saying. For conjuring his keyblade out of nowhere. For the choice he had made, right then, on the beach. He didn't expect her to know what he meant. Did Jimmy's friends understand, before he had left them?

Riku laid the Way to Dawn by his side, and leaned back into the sand, arms behind his head. He sighed peacefully, and enjoyed the warmth.

"You know, Kairi, you're right. This place never does change. But. . . I guess that's just the magic of it."

[Doogie]

Sora had been waaaaay bored all day long! No adventures to go on, no friends to hang out with because Riku had "other plans" earlier, and Kairi had been nowhere to be found. Selphie? Out of the question with the way she had been acting recently. Wakka and Tidus? Eh, even though they were guys, and they were about the same age as Sora...they kinda did their own thing, similar to Kairi, Riku, and himself!

Out of sheer boredom, Sora had come to the Play Island, hoping to chill, maybe go into the Secret Place and reminisce, and probably to lay on the beach, and fall asleep, like he had those few years ago before...Before all this crazy stuff happened. Before I was named a keybearer, and given that task of defending all the worlds. Before it happened all over again, but with new complications. Honestly...I'm kinda glad it's all over.

[/color] But truly? Sora sorta missed it all. The thrill of beating the bad guys, the warm feeling you got inside your heart after saving someone, the exhilaration of defeating Heartless and Nobodies left and right with mighty swings of his Keyblade.

Just having thought about it, and getting lost in his thougths triggered the summoning of his Keyblade. The Kingdom Key. Sora looked down at his hand, wrenched from his thoughts by the weight that he felt in his hands. Do...do I really miss all of that stuff this much?[/color] This was the thought that was dashing through his brain, over and over again as he let his Keyblade vanish. Sora looked out at the horizon, remembering the time he, Riku, and Kairi had all built the raft to "head out to a new world." Just the thought of those times made him smile inwardly.

As he looked back up, he saw Kairi and Riku on the shore, Riku with his Way to Dawn at his side, and Kairi on the sand next to him. The sight of the two of them lifted his spirits, and he dashed toward them, interrupting whatever it was they had been talking about. "Hey guys! What'cha doin?" Sora said loudly as he plopped down next to Riku, with his signature, goofy grin on his face.[/blockquote]


((Mwuahaha! I told you I would pop een! >D))

[Ellie who has 0%]

(@.@ I see...also of all colors...why yellow)

Hearing a shimmer, Kairi turned to see a glimpse of white, The Way to Dawn. She gazed at the blade remebering that day when she reunited with Riku masked behind a tan face of a sinister man. He had put himself through darkness and back to travel as that devil. All of his strife and strive was imbedded in that keyblade; she knew it and felt it. Sorry he spoke, but it only dropped her mood more.

I'm sorry too, she kept that to herself; if she was to utter it aloud, he would instantly question her and tread down a road she rather not share, but walk alone. She was sorry for many reasons; she didn't go with them; she was the dead weight that essentially pushed their first turmoil. She was inactive, while they were carrying the burden and the princess of heart waited on a mere island. What was the point of such title if it meant nothing? There wasn't any specialities or benefits that came from it to help her friends, and here she was with a keyblade, one she didn't deserve...not like how Riku had.

"You know, Kairi, you're right. This place never does change. But. . . I guess that's just the magic of it."

"Mmhm," she replied with a forced smile. Perhaps she didn't changed either; she came to this place often. It's not like she wanted to...change completely, but she wanted to change for the better, for the worlds, and for her friends. Heck if everyone else can move to the beat of their own drum, then what's wrong with her? Did she lacked a drum to begin with, or is her drum elsewhere and needed to be found?

The Princess nearly jumped hearing a spunk preppy voice out of nowhere laughing with the gulls and flowing with the peace of the ocean. Cracking a smile, she leaned to see Sora plopping right next to Riku, "reminiscing everything...like this place."

[Zephiris]

(( Because he's Mr. Sunshine! Sorry for short post. There wasn't much to go on. What about it, guys? Should we wrap this up in a bit, end on the three friends chilling happily together, or go off to do something now that Sora's here? ))

Riku had to shield his eyes, for there were suddenly two suns above him.

One had been there the whole time, blazing in the sky, distant but warm. The other had just arrived, and sprayed sand in Riku's face as it plopped down beside him.

"Hey guys! What'cha doin?"

"Sora," Riku groaned, feigning exasperation as he sat up. He had just been getting comfortable. Inwardly, though, he felt relief; nothing like a wielder of light to brighten the mood. "We've been having intelligent conversation. What about you?"

The atmosphere had suddenly lightened to the point where the change was tangible. Sora had always had that quality about him. His light didn't just reside in the keyblade - which, Riku noticed, his friend had summoned as well - but also in his very being. It was that beacon that had pulled Riku from the shadows over a year ago.

But he wasn't going to dwell on that now. The three were together again, relaxing for the first time in a while, and Riku wasn't going to mar the moment with darker thoughts. He shoved them to the back recesses of his mind. They had the entire day to do whatever they wanted on the island, just like they did before knowing there were worlds outside of theirs.

[Doogie]

Sora could tell the mood had been serious, but now that he was here, he didn't care! He was just glad to be with his two best friends. People, who on the worst of days, could brighten his life! And he could obviously do the same for them.

"Reminiscing...about this place."

"We've been having intelligent conversation. What about you?"

Sora rolled his eyes in mock frustration and smiled a little bit, not at all surprised that the two of them would answer with different answers. Different yes, opposites, no. "Well, I see you two aren't on the same page as to what you're doing!"[/color] he said with another smile. "And I've been trying to find you two all day! I had even come over here earlier...but you two were nowhere to be found! When you guys wanna be alone! You guys are unfindable!"[/color] Sora went on, lightening the mood more and more as he talked and sat with his friends. He had always had a knack for that sorta thing. It was his...specialty.

"Well, now that we're all together, what do you wanna do? We haven't really been over here in a while. It's kinda crazy when you think about it."[/color] Yes, it truly had been a while since they had visited this island all together. The more he thought about it, the more it shocked Sora. Has it really been that long? Man...we need to get out more![/color][/i]

[Ellie who has 0%]

"Hmm, I don't know. I'm not really equip for...swimming. Hey where's that raft we had? I noticed we never ever used it; we should for all of that work was for nothing," Kairi smiled, "if we go looking for it...this time Sora don't go to sleep."

With her mind made up Kairi stood up to tug both boys off their arse, "come on you lazy bums we have down nothing long enough. Soon you two will start growing flabs."

She might as well have one day worthwhile with them. She perfered having one good eventful day with them to look back on rather than solum conversations.

[Zephiris]

(( I'm going to consider this thread completed, its job is pretty much done. The trio now goes and has one last peaceful day. A nice wrap, Ellie. :] ))