Final Chapter
Lea was out like a light as soon as they got back to Kairi’s house, snoozing on the couch. Kairi offered to try to carry him to her bed –that’s what her Grandma always did when Kairi fell asleep on the couch –but Isa said that he’d rather she didn’t drop him and give him more brain damage than he certainly already had. So instead, Kairi just cheered Isa on as he carried Lea to her bed, then Kairi tucked him in herself and gave him her doll, Nana, to sleep with as an apology for being bad.
“Lea was kinda mean to Nana before,” Kairi whispered to Isa as they left the room and shut the door, not wanting to wake Lea and Nana, who had apparently also gone to sleep. “But she forgives him. I think Nana has a crush on Lea. But that’s a secret, okay?” she added frantically.
“Your… doll?” Isa asked.
Kairi nodded. “And, um… I was kinda mean to you guys, too, so… do you forgive me, too? Like Nana forgives Lea?”
Isa seemed to seriously think it over, making Kairi panic a bit. “I’m sorry! Really!” she pleaded.
“How sorry?”
Kairi dropped to her hands and knees. “I’m really, really, really sorry! Lea broke the vase and I was mad at him, but grandma always tells me not to be mean, and you guys helped me against the monster, and I like you, so I’m really, really, REALLY sorry!”
Isa rolled his eyes. “That’s a bit much.”
“But—” Kairi started.
Isa shook his head. “I forgive you. Lea’s such a bleeding heart for stray puppies, I bet he’s already forgotten why the whole thing started in the first place. Okay?”
Kairi hopped up and hugged his legs. “Then I can hang out with you guys sometimes? Will you come back and babysit again? Promise?”
Isa sighed. “All things considered, we’ll probably have to.”
Kairi cheered and did a very strange, flailing happy dance. “I’m going to draw pictures of us, then!” She ran off to grab her crayons and her pink, sparkly sketchbook, looking extremely focused.
Isa sat on the couch where he could watch her, since he certainly did not want to go on another little escapade again.
In a few minutes, Kairi shoved the closed sketchbook in Isa’s face proudly, making some of the glitter fall onto his lap. “I’m done,” she said, a bit shyly for once.
Isa took the book and started flipping through it. Most of the pictures had obviously already been in there and not scrawled in those first few minutes. It was pictures of the others in the garden. Some pictures of them happy with flowers, and, more recently, some of them fighting.
“That one’s of Cloud fighting against Leon!” Kairi said, pointing when he reached the picture. “Cloud and Leon are really, really strong! And they have swords! They're just like real ones!” Kairi pretended she held a sword in her hand and slashed about, adding the sound effects she deemed necessary. “They're so cool, you should see it!” Kairi flipped the page for him and pointed at the next picture. “And Aerith has a pole thing that she swings around like this!” Kairi pretended she was holding Aerith's pole and swung at nothing in particular. “And Tifa, too!” Kairi turned the page again. “Tifa doesn't need a weapon, she punches things!” Kairi punched the air in an attempt to imitate the older girl's attacks. “And Yuffie's a ninja, didja know that? She said she's a flower!” Kairi flipped the page and pointed at the picture of Yuffie with ninja stars.
“We've met them, Kairi,” Isa said in an unimpressed tone.
“But you'll never guess what I'm going to use as my weapon when I can fight like them and Lea!”
“Your toy sword?” Isa asked, feigning astonishment. “Amazing. Your enemies shall tremble before you.”
“No, that’s just for practice! I’m going to have this!” Kairi flipped ahead a few pages to where she drew her future weapon. “See, look, look, isn't it cool?”
“A giant key with flowers glued onto it will be your weapon?” Isa asked, taking the sketchbook and trying to make sense of the picture.
“It's like a sword but even better!”
“How so? A sword actually has an edge. This looks so blunt it's akin to a baseball bat.”
“But I saw someone using it, and she was so cool! She even had magic and hers was blue and she and a giant mouse saved me when a black evil flying puppy thing was chasing me and --”
“You mean you haven't learned to tell the difference between your dreams and reality?” Isa asked, chuckling as he flipped through other pages of the sketchbook.
“It's the truth, she really was here! I gave her flowers and she gave me a magic spell to protect me on my necklace! I have a picture of her! Here, see?” Kairi flipped back to where she drew a picture of Aqua and King Mickey fighting the little blue monster from before.
“Right...” Isa answered, not really listening. He wasn't impressed by the quality of the pictures –why would he be, she was, what, four? --but the content of the journal made him smile in spite of himself. There were followed by pictures of Even and Ienzo, of Cloud with Aerith and Tifa, a few of Squall with Rinoa, and, one picture that almost made Isa laugh, Lea and Yuffie kissing. Most of the pictures after the ones of Cloud and the others were of himself, Lea, and her, believe it or not. “You should show these to Lea, I bet he'd get a kick out of them,” he joked.
“You're not listening to me again, Isa,” Kairi complained, but Isa could tell she was holding back a smiled.
“By now it really shouldn't surprise you, then,” Isa quipped as he turned the page in the journal again. This time the picture was somewhat more crudely drawn than the others, so it took Isa a moment to figure out what he was looking at. When he finally could make sense of it, the implication hit him full force. “You drew yourself in a princess dress defeating me? Me? Really, Kairi?”
“I could!” Kairi said proudly, crossing her arms. “I'm a princess and a knight, and you're a mean old dragon. So it's my duty to defeat you!”
“Duty or not, you'd fail the task, O brave knight,” Isa said, chuckling. “Especially if I'm a dragon. Last time I checked, princesses don't breathe fire.”
“You don't get fire powers,” Kairi explained. She hopped beside him on the seat and pointed at a blue and yellow streak. “See, this is your power.”
“...What's that supposed to be?”
“A moon! 'Cause you're always looking up at space and the moon! Lea will be my assistant, and he will get to have fire powers! And I get to have light powers!”
“What can I do with moon powers?”
“The moon and stars in space can give you powers and you can be like a were-dragon! Or a were-bunny, like the bunny on the moon!”
“I'll stick with the dragon.”
“Dragon or bunny, me and Lea will defeat you!”
“I’m pretty sure Lea would be on my side, if push came to shove,” Isa said with a shrug. “Your light versus a dragon and someone with fire powers?”
Kairi pouted, but her puffed cheeks and narrowed eyes were replaced with a sly grin. “I’m a princess and a knight, and I have Princess Nana on my side!” Kairi declared.
“Your doll again…”
“Or maybe all four of us can work together and instead of princesses and knights and dragons, we can be detectives!”
“Why are you counting your doll…? Detectives for what?” Isa said.
“Detectives for Radiant Garden! The rumor about the monster was true, and people must really be disappearing! So we can figure out what’s happening and get to the bottom of it together!” Kairi declared.
Isa paused, then smiled. He was starting to think he and Isa had been the only suspicious ones, and Kairi seemed to be friends with Braig, so she might be of use somehow. “That actually sounds fruitful,” he admitted.
“Right? We’ll defeat the evil and save the town! I’ll be a filaree, and you’ll be a moonflower!”
“What?”
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. “I’ll get it!” Kairi called, racing to the door and answering it. “Grandma! You’re okay!” she said, giving her grandma a hug.
“Of course I’m okay,” her grandma said reassuringly. “Were you a good girl?”
“A perfect little angel,” Isa interjected quickly. “Lea’s in the back straightening up. I’ll go get him.”
Kairi smiled and nodded, getting the hint. “We’re friends, now, grandma!”
“That’s good. I might have to go out a bit more from here on out, but I can count on Lea and Isa to take care of you while I’m gone, right?”
“Right!” Kairi said as Isa returned with a groggy Lea. Kairi moved out of their way as they passed. Her grandma handed the munny to Isa while Lea ruffled her hair.
“Come play again sometime, okay?”
“Of course!” Lea said. “We’ll see ya when we see ya. After all, we're friends now. Get it memorized.”
“I will!” Kairi promised, waving as he stood up to walk out with a slightly amused Isa. “Oh yeah, so grandma, where were you all day, anyway?” she finally asked.
Her grandmother closed the door and smiled. “I was just talking to an old friend about something.”
“Who, who?” Kairi asked.
“Ansem.”
Kairi’s eyes grew wide. “Mr. Ansem the Wise is your friend? What were you talking about?”
“That’s a secret,” she said, putting her finger to her lips to show that she had to be quiet.
Kairi mimicked the motion and nodded dutifully, already full of ideas of what that must mean. Imagine, a secret, forbidden love between her grandma and THE Ansem the Wise? A surprise party in the planning? A science experiment? Whatever it was, she kind of hoped they could meet up again sometime soon. Kairi wanted to spend more time with her new friends. She smiled at the thought.
“Well, Kairi, for being so patient and waiting for me, I think I’ll make you a treat.”
“Are we making cookies? Oh, can I help this time? I want to be able to make cookies for Isa and Lea next time.”
“Sure, Kairi. Come on.”
“Oh, and could you tell me that story again before we start?”
“Again?”
“Please?” Kairi begged with puppy dog eyes.
Her grandma laughed. “Very well, then. Long ago…”
