~*A Promise Held Forever: A World Without You*~
“Tears that can‘t be seen, but felt…those tears are Human.”
“Bye, Kairi…”
She remained silent. Riku sighed. He couldn’t blame her for being upset.
“I’ll…see ya soon, ‘kay?”
Still no response.
He looked her over once more before walking away. Kairi shut her eyes. ‘No…’
“Mmm...I-I’m sorry…” she stammered.
Riku stopped and turned to look at her.
“I’m sorry. I forgot about what happened. I shouldn’t have…”
Riku smiled. “It’s okay.” Once again, he started to walk away. Kairi opened her eyes to see him one last time. She couldn’t bear it any longer, and rushed forward, locking him in an embrace.
“Good-bye, Riku.” she mumbled into his chest. He locked his arms around her.
“Bring Sora back, okay?”
“Will do.” he reassured. “Take care.” She nodded in response. He slipped out of her grasp while wiping away a tear that had escaped and slid down her cheek. A strong wind rushed by. It soon died down as Riku disappeared with it. Leaving Kairi standing alone as the sun set on the horizon.
* * * *
“Hey, Kairi!” Tidus greeted her with a warm smile. “You know where Riku is?”
“He…left.”
The smile quickly wiped off Tidus’ face. “What? But I never got to show him my new moves. This really reeks…”
“Sorry, Tidus.”
“It’s alright. Well, see ya Kairi.” he waved and ran off, disappointed.
Kairi took the handles of her jump rope and set one in each of her hands, brought the rope over her head, jumped it with ease, and continued down the path until she reached her grandmother’s house. She skipped to the backyard, approaching the tree with the markings. She should’ve told Riku about her dream, but she didn’t want him worrying too much over her.
She folded the jump rope up and hung it over a branch. Once again, she began her search for the key.
An eerie breeze blew by as she shuffled through the grass. Sending short shivers to cruise down her spine. Even though small, the shiver caused the hair on her neck to stand on end. She saw a white image out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned quickly to see what it was, it was gone.
“It’s just my mind playing tricks on me…” Kairi whispered to herself.
She began searching for the key again, the one Sora had handed to her in her dream.
“It has to be here somewhere…” she muttered under her breath. Another breeze blew by. The sound of chimes rung through the air like soothing bells from the wind chimes hanging outside the backdoor of her grandmother’s house. She thought she spotted someone out of the corner of her eye again. But just as before, no one was there.
“Okay…now I am officially freaked out…” Kairi slowly stood up, grabbed her jump rope, and started to back away. When halfway across the yard, she was about to turn and make a run for it, but stopped short when a figure emerged from behind the tree. Kairi’s eyes widened.
It was a young girl. Ebony black hair falling past her shoulders and to one side of her pale face. Mysterious light-blue eyes peered at Kairi, shining ever-so-slightly through the darkness of her hair. She wore a simple white dress, somewhat tattered at the bottom. Around her neck hung a cross, a four-pointed star in the middle of it. The girl started to step forward.
“You're scared.” the girl spoke, her voice carrying across the winds like chimes. “Release your fears child. I will guide you through the darkness.” The strange girl reached for Kairi’s hand. Holding her hand gently, but firmly, the girl clutched the cross hanging from her necklace. Soon, both girls were engulfed in a soft, blinding light.
* * * *
“Youmust wake up now.”
Kairi fluttered her eyes open to see light-blue eyes hovering inches away from her face. She shot up abruptly, scared out of her wits.
“Who-who are you?” Kairi stuttered.
“I told you to release your fears.”
“Where are we? What is this place?!”
The girl stood up and walked away. Kairi started to examine her surroundings.
They were on a beach it seemed with unusually dark sand. A small boulder sat behind Kairi. The water slapping at the shore was an inky black. Huge stone arcs rose high above the water and on the horizon like tree branches. The sky was a milky grey and wispy clouds hung in the sky like an omen. The sun was a bright circle sitting amongst the clouds, giving off the only little light that lit up the dark, secluded beach. Kairi started to stand up, casting a glance to the right of her.
Another large boulder stood almost six feet hight. It reminded her of a doorway. It had a strange aura surfacing off it. It didn’t look like a normal rock. Like it was made out of some strange material never seen before….
Mountains stood high off in the distance. Then there stood the girl, at the water’s edge. The water licking at her bare toes. Kairi slowly approached her. She didn’t know what to identify her as--a human, or a Heartless?
“Who…are you?” Kairi asked again.
“Nozomi.” was all she replied in her chime-like tone. “Look.” Nozomi picked a hand up and pointed to an object glinting on the shore-line. Kairi glanced at it and edged closer. The closer she got, the more she recognized what it was. By now, she was almost standing on top of the object. Bending down, her fingers curled around the smooth glass.
It’s crystalline structure was as sleek as the ocean itself; slight fingerprint marks, as milky as the moon, dotting the glass shell. A slip of paper sat inside, containing the remnants of thoughts written down long ago. Awaiting a reader’s eyes to skim it’s words long forgotten. Kairi slowly pulled the cork out of the opening, but not before glancing behind her to find that Nozomi had disappeared. She gulped as the cork smoothly slipped out into her palm. Gingerly, she pulled the slip out from it’s glass prison to the safety of her caressing fingers.
She scanned, what seemed to be, the letter that had been so eager to escape the bottle. Some words were smudged, making it hard to understand. Kairi squinted her eyes as she read the letter.
Where ever you are, where ever you may find this, I’m glad you’re safe. I really miss you…and I thought this journey was over, but it’s not. Not even close. The Heartless have returned. There’s a chill in the winds. Hopefully, they haven’t reached where you are yet.
I’m living in a world without you. Everyday I wake up, hoping it was just a dream. But then reality drags me back. I made an oath that I would come back to you. Please understand, I’m trying all I can. I don’t even know if I’ll make it back alive at this point…guess that’s not something to say right now, is it?
No matter what, I’ll make it back to you. No matter how many obstacles get in my way. But not before finding the Door to the Light. Be safe. And one more thing…
…I love you…
Kairi’s fingers hugged the letter, almost crushing it into little pieces. The paper crinkled in her palm. A tear slid down her cheek and she found she could breathe again, realizing she had held her breath the whole time.
‘Sora…’ Kairi snapped her head up to see a figure in a black raincoat striding towards her. For a moment, she thought it was Riku, but soon identified them as someone different.
Strange though…the figure didn’t seem to see Kairi kneeling at the water’s edge. A glass bottle and letter clutched to her chest, as if to protect her.
Kairi let out a small gasp as Nozomi appeared behind her, taking hold of her hand yet again.
As her vision blurred into ripples of light, Kairi caught a glimpse of someone emerging from the strange six-foot boulder. The two strangers met at the other smaller boulder. The first figure taking a seat.
Everything had completely faded away now, but the only words uttered from the cloaked strangers startled Kairi.
“He looks just like you.”