Chapter XX
So Long Ago – Alone With Despair
Two days had passed since the Heartless attacked Hollow Bastion. Kairi had been treated multiple times by Rydia. Naminé and Aerith had woken up, but they were still suffering from massive headaches and exhaustion. Tifa was still bedridden, and even though she could spend most of her time with Aerith this way, she was still quite moody.
Kairi was sitting in the living room, trying to read a book, but it was nearly impossible with all the noise inside her head. A lot of things were going through her mind and she wasn't exactly in the condition to handle any of them. The worst was that she knew she had to go and see Olette and clear things between them before the next mission came. And according to Leon, that would be soon.
“Rydia, I'm going out for a while. If Naminé asks where I am, tell her I'll be back soon,” Kairi told the green-haired woman who was standing in the kitchen, trying to cook. She made amazing coffee, but she was a terrible cook.
“Okay. Will you be back for dinner? I'm making rice omelet. I got a recipe from Yuffie the other day and wanted to try it out.” Rydia was a bright woman, but when it came to her shortcomings, namely cooking, she was just as naïve as Naminé was, if not even more so. Other than that, she was a very capable woman and a really powerful sorceress.
Looking at the…battlefield that was the kitchen, Kairi decided that Yuffie's recipe combined with Rydia's cooking skills might be enough to kill a zombie. She waved her hand, smiled for a second and left, unable to tell the nice girl that her food was almost always inedible.
Standing outside, fresh air confronted her and cleared her thoughts somewhat. As she looked in the direction of the destroyed district, she sighed. What if such an attack happened again? Next time they might not be this lucky. They needed all the manpower they could get and Olette was a important asset to the group. For the girls to let their personal affairs get in the way and influence their teamwork negatively was unacceptable. It could cost lives the next time.
As Kairi walked down the street to Yuffie's apartment, a dozen possible scenarios shot through her mind, all likely and all without a nice outcome for her. Kairi knew Olette was angry about her being with Naminé so shortly after she had rejected both of them, but what could she do? Break up with Naminé just so Olette could feel better? Naminé wouldn't be too happy about such a turn of events. Besides, Olette was now with Yuffie, and some time had passed. Things could go back to the way they were now.
“Kairi?”
Instantly drawn back to reality, Kairi looked up. Olette was standing there right before her, looking rather confused at the sudden encounter. “Shouldn't you be resting? Didn't you get injured?”
“I didn't know you were so worried about me,” Kairi answered in honest surprise.
“I…well, I think it's time to talk.” Looking at the ground, the brunette knew they couldn't continue like this. She didn't hate Kairi, and it made no sense to keep being angry and hurt about what happened. “Should we go to that one place?”
With a look at Kairi's legs, covered in bandages, Olette quickly took her comment back. “Never mind. How about The Kupo, that new café Stilzkin opened?”
“I'm not an invalid, Olette. But The Kupo sounds good,” Kairi replied and stood there, rooted to the ground for a few seconds. Both thought the other would take the first step. Kairi finally opened her mouth, closed it without saying anything, and walked in front of the brunette.
It was so awkward to talk to her after everything that had happened. And what should she say? Kairi knew she tended to over-analyze, and that Olette often acted on her emotions. They were like water and oil. But not so long in the past, Kairi had felt…differently about her. Right now, even though it was awkward, Kairi could see Olette not only as Keyblader or as a teammate but also as a friend she wanted back, and…
Kairi opened the door to the small café that was owned by Stilzkin, a rich Moogle, and that employed solely Moogles of all kinds. A cute little Moogle who introduced himself as Momo led them to a table and asked them for their orders.
Kairi let her eyes fly over the card and chose a light cappuccino that was named Kuporachino. Olette simply ordered black coffee, the strongest they had, and sighed. Now that the Moogle was gone and they had ordered, there was only one thing left to do.
“Can you start? I'm terrible at these things…” Olette said, and averted her eyes, fixating them on the table. She didn't feel so well. She hadn't spoken with Yuffie at all since they'd gotten back, and only came back to Yuffie's to sleep. What happened nagged at her consciousness, and nothing anyone said helped. She felt guilty for not being there.
“And I'm not terrible, right. But I'll start…I…well.” Taking a deep breath, Kairi gathered all of her courage. She needed it for what she wanted to say. This was harder than fighting the Heartless or the Organization. She couldn't just analyze the target and form a strategy. She had to be honest and talk.
“I want us to be friends again,” Kairi said, and before Olette could say anything, she lifted her hand and stopped the brunette. “Listen, I really do. I know you're angry about…Naminé and me. I admit, it's my fault. It just…happened. I don't know if it would've been the same if you had come to me instead of Naminé, but I think so. Maybe…I just needed to be cornered to accept that I can't hide from myself forever. I still feel guilty for what happened. Will you…forgive me?” Kairi felt sick after Olette kept silent when she finished her little speech. She had improvised, said what she thought, felt.
“You don't change, do you? But…” Olette said and took a sip from the freshly made coffee another Moogle had just brought up to them. “You're right. I want…to be your friend again. I hate being away from Naminé like this too.”
Olette hadn't felt this good since they'd gotten back. For the first time since she had seen that big dark cloud covering the skies on her way back, she smiled. That was a lot easier than she had thought. And Kairi seemed happy too.
“I also wanted to say…I'm sorry. That I wasn't there. I know that I now have a duty. I'm a Keyblader now. I'd hate to think it's my fault everything happened like that.” Olette took another sip of her coffee, her guts feeling even hotter than the black liquid. What if Kairi held her responsible for the mess?
“Even if you had been there, the only thing that would have changed is that Naminé and I would have gotten off a bit easier. But you'd be injured too then. Just…just be there the next time. I feel a lot safer with you covering my back,” Kairi answered. She took a large gulp of her Kuporachino.
“I will. Um…how…is Naminé doing?” Olette had missed the blond girl so much that she was eager to know when she could talk to her again. Ever since the events in Port Royal, she had felt a bit differently about Naminé. Not in a romantic way, but…they were closer than just good friends.
“Probably still sleeping. She is fine, but the magic exhaustion was severe. She'll have a headache at least for a few days.” Kairi looked out the window. Had it always been this easy to talk to people? Had she changed over the past few weeks? Changed due to Naminé and Olette?
“I hope she'll be better soon. Listen, I am really—”
Kairi cut her off before she could finish her sentence. “No matter how guilty you feel, it's in the past now. I'm happy we're not fighting anymore, so please, don't succumb to this feeling of guilt. I know what it feels like. Everything seems to be your fault. You think you could have made a difference. The sad truth is, one person alone makes only so much difference, even a Keyblader. Nobody thinks it's your fault. Nobody could have known the Heartless would attack us,” Kairi said, completely emotionless, fully knowing how hard it might sound. She had experienced this in the past, when she had lost yet another world to the Heartless.
“But—”
Kairi stopped her with a cold glare.
“I see. Thanks. I think…I feel a little bit better.” Olette emptied her coffee and then noticed something she should have thought about long ago.
“Kairi…do you have any money on you?” Olette was so embarrassed that she blushed. But she went from being embarrassed to panicked when Kairi widened her eyes and whispered that she thought Olette would have some money on her.
There they sat, without money to pay for their drinks.
Two hours, and many, many angry “kupos” later, the two girls left the shop, exhausted and not in the best mood.
“I can't believe they made us wash cups for two hours. We only had coffee!” Olette complained, rubbing her wrist. Her hands were sore and her back was killing her. Man, those Moogles could get really angry. Olette feared that the pompom of one of the kitchen helpers might explode when she had dropped a cup and it shattered all over the place.
Kairi was quiet for the longer part of the way back to the crossroads between the places they were staying at.
“It's good to…talk again to you. Listen, I was—” Olette almost stumbled over her own words.
“We both had a lot to deal with. Honestly, I'd like to forget about this. I'm happy you're talking to me again. Leon will send us on the next mission soon and I want you to brief me on your current skills. I will do the same for Naminé and me. I'm still our tactical coordinator and I need to know those things. Tomorrow, ten o'clock at the canyon?” Kairi wanted to be prepared for the next mission. She didn't want another catastrophe like the one with the man from the Organization from before.
“Still the over-analyzing thinker, are you? Some things never change. Okay, I'll be there. I, uh, might bring Yuffie along.” Olette said it without thinking. Why? She had no intention of bringing Yuffie to a training session, nor would the black-haired girl have any interest in that.
Kairi remained silent for a few seconds and then sighed. “Okay.” Was Olette really going to bring Yuffie along? If not, why did she say so? Just to tease her or to see how she'd react?
Turning around again, the brunette was already gone. She didn't want them to argue again. She would apologize tomorrow to her. It was barely evening, but she felt tired. Well, she still wasn't fully recovered.
After heading back home, Kairi spent the rest of the day next to Naminé, who told her a new story. She had taken the next step and instead of just reading, she was now sometimes telling her own stories, and even drew pictures of them sometimes.
Nothing significant happened for the rest of the day, except that Rydia virtually exploded a pot. Kairi was making dinner when the sun finally went down and nightfall came.
“You know, Rydia, I think Tifa has a secret crush on you. She'd never admit it, though. But watch out. You better not take a shower here.” Naminé was teasing the green-haired woman for fun.
“Why? You don't think she'd really…I mean, Aerith is still here and all.” Rydia seemed sort of threatened by that thought.
“Aerith is too tired for 'anything'. I can imagine it—you standing in the shower and then from behind, two large hands suddenly grab your—” Naminé had quite the colorful fantasy. To accompany her story, she made grabbing moves with her hands.
Covering her chest and blushing quite deeply, Rydia looked over her shoulder if Kairi was listening in. “I-I don't swing that way! She wouldn't…really…” Rydia couldn't bring herself to say it.
“Oh, I don't know. Tifa is always full of energy, and being forced to lie around doing nothing…” Naminé grinned widely and leaned forward as if to whisper something to Rydia. “I think she has a thing or two for sorceresses, especially if they are a bit smaller than her. In many ways.” Naminé had to force herself not to laugh when she saw Rydia's shocked face.
“You're kidding. Aren't you? Right? Right?!” Rydia was quite nervous and almost lost all poise when Kairi interrupted.
“I think Tifa asked for you earlier, Rydia. She didn't want me to tell you why, but she seemed really quirky about it.” Kairi had obviously listened to the whole thing. Poor Rydia was so gullible.
“I think I'm gonna go home.” Rydia was as pale as a ghost and almost tripped on her way to the door.
Kairi found it rather amusing to see how Rydia, the only straight woman in the house, reacted to those “threats.”
By the time the clock hit ten, Kairi was almost asleep. Almost. She still shared her bed with Naminé. She had thought about it. If this kept going on, why not have Naminé move into her room? She didn't own many things so there was enough space for the two of them. It was rather cramped in the bed, but apparently only Kairi minded that. Naminé loved to cuddle up to the redhead and sleep like that, her head resting on Kairi's chest.
“I wish we could stay like this forever,” Naminé whispered and her hand looked for Kairi's, their fingers entwining with each other's.
“Time never stands still. We're getting older too.” Kairi said, but still smiled. She enjoyed these moments of absolute peace and happiness together with Naminé.
“I know. But I still wish we could.” Naminé closed her eyes and fell silent. She had this rather annoying habit of falling asleep in the middle of a conversation.
“Silly,” Kairi whispered back, and petted the blonde's head. The stars out there seemed to shine just for the two of them. And with a last quiet sigh, Kairi fell asleep too.
---Valiant Hearts---
The next day only consisted of resting and preparing mentally for what was to come soon. Kairi was up and returned to what she did best—keeping her mind occupied with her destiny. Olette came over, and even though Kairi had expected her to bring Yuffie with her, she was alone. Naminé was supposed to stay in bed, but Kairi wanted her to hear everything, so she brought the blond girl into the living room not long before Olette was supposed to show up. It was not that she was embarrassed about having Naminé in her room. She just didn't want Olette to think she was showing off their relationship to her.
Olette and Naminé acted like they were glued together. They hadn't really seen or talked to each other in some time, and it was very obvious that they were happy to be back together as friends. Kairi sat comfortably on a chair across from the table while Olette told her the results of her training, where her limits were. Kairi had a lot to discuss, such as the use of Naminé's magic. Friendly fire had become a hot topic, simply because Naminé now had the power to use very high-level magic but not the strength to control it.
“I know that saying things like, 'I forbid you from using this and that under any circumstances' is foolish. I remember the feeling when we faced that member of the Organization. That was beyond anything I've ever experienced. Such a powerful killing intent…it reminded me of Ansem. Against such foes…we never know what we'll have to resort to, so I'd like to go over some advanced tactics with you two.”
Even though the girls sighed, Kairi continued. They would now work in formations, but only very few to start with. Olette and Naminé instantly objected to Kairi's names of the formations, but their objections were simply ignored.
One formation was meant to conserve Naminé's magical power. Olette and Kairi would provide protection for the magician. Another was for all-out combat, where the roles were equal, but Naminé would be using powerful magics while the other two stayed in close range, protecting her.
After a good two hours of explaining things and lots of questions, objections and nonsense, the heads of the three girls were smoking. It was almost time for dinner and Rydia had told Kairi that she couldn't find someone to fill in for her at the shop, so they had to cook themselves.
“I'm gonna make dinner now. Olette, are you staying?” Kairi had stood up and was already halfway over to the kitchen.
“No, Yuffie hates eating alone and I really should talk to her.” With a sad expression, Olette stood up, petted Naminé's head one last time, and left without another word.
---Valiant Hearts---
Back at Yuffie's apartment, Olette was in a completely different mood from before. She knew that every mission was dangerous, and the next one would be especially hard on her. She only had one meeting with Kairi about general tactics and she knew little about what Naminé and Kairi could do now. She had to be prepared. In many ways.
“Did something good happen? You look really happy.” Yuffie sat across the table and looked at a completely changed Olette.
“Yeah. I talked with Kairi and made up with her. And…Yuffie, I'm sorry I've been so distant the last few days, but I've had a lot of stuff to think about. It won't happen again.” Olette finished her food, stood up and stopped when she was standing behind Yuffie.
“It's about time you got better. I thought I'd die from lack of fun any day now. You were like a zombie. Including your face.” Yuffie teased the brunette and immediately saw her sulk.
“I met with Leon today. He said I should tell you the next mission starts tomorrow and that you should prepare yourself. I'm really pissed off that you're gone the moment you're better,” Yuffie said, but she really didn't feel pissed off at all.
“Tomorrow? Sometimes I think Leon is really a Heartless,” Olette said, and hugged Yuffie from behind, kissing her on the cheek.
“That…was a terrible pun…” Yuffie rolled her eyes and gave Olette a grim look. “Never do that again. You're a terrible, terrible comedian.” Looking to the side, Yuffie changed the kiss on the cheek into a full kiss. She felt a bit weird kissing her like this after the last few days, but that was only a temporarily feeling.
“Look who's talking. Any audience would lynch you.” Olette mocked her and let go, looking for a clock. Yuffie's apartment was as chaotic as ever and it took her a minute to find a working one. “It's past ten. I need to get up early tomorrow. Wanna go to bed? And I mean sleeping, not 'to bed'.” Olette gave Yuffie a glare that made it clear she was serious.
With a shrug, Yuffie followed Olette to the bedroom and undressed on her way. Seeing that, Olette groaned and looked to the ceiling. “I said sleep!”
Yuffie only smiled and put her arms around Olette, pulling her towards the bed.
“I'm so screwed,” Olette said and let herself be pulled away.
---Valiant Hearts---
“I know you're not fully healed yet, but chances are that you won't encounter the enemy right away. That's why I can't send anyone else with you. Tifa and Aerith are still out of commission and we need everyone else here in case something comes up. I don't want you three to come back and find that your home is gone.” Leon was giving one of his “speeches” again. They were down in the abandoned district that had been an industrial park in the past, but due to technological advances, it was now empty and unused.
Kairi, Naminé and Olette were wrapped in long brown cloaks to protect against the heat of the desert and warm them in the cold nights in case they had to camp out. Beyond that, they were in only their normal clothes. Kairi wore a practical one-piece that allowed freedom, Olette trousers and a shirt to give her maximum mobility, and Naminé a dress that was light and did not distract her.
Their Keyblades summoned, they waited for Leon to give final instructions.
“Your mission is to track down whatever attacked us and eliminate it. If you are unable to do that, come back in three days. Be careful. Contact me if you find anything. If there is no contact after thirty-six hours, I will send Yuffie on a recon to look for you. If she can't detect you in two hours' time, I will have Cid force open the portal and have a search troop look for you. In your case, one world's balance is not as important as the greater goal.”
Kairi nodded. She knew that he was right. She did not like how blunt he was being, but he was right. Leon was kind of a superior, a teacher, to her and she believed in him and his ways.
Olette and Naminé stood respectively left and right to Kairi and nodded in synchrony.
“Take care,” Leon said, and took a few steps back.
Kairi nodded one last time. “Understood.”
Turning around, the redhead pointed Oathkeeper at the gateway to Agrabah. Olette and Naminé followed Kairi's example and directed their blades at the gate as well. Light was suddenly joining, binding together, flowing towards the invisible gateway beyond eye's grasp.
The second the light reached the portal, connected to it, Leon could sense that something had gone wrong. A fraction of a second later, he found himself instinctively taking cover.
The enormous explosion and the following shock wave hit Leon hard enough to nearly knock him out. With a last futile attempt, he crawled behind a wall and looked through the rift at the ground where the girls had stood.
There was nothing there. No blood, no bodies. It seemed untouched. In fact, nothing seemed physically damaged at all. Knowing that, Leon's eyes closed, and he finally lost consciousness.
---Valiant Hearts---
Blinding light. The feeling of being drawn apart, ripped in pieces, put back together differently from before—that process repeated indefinitely, sometimes in the fraction of a second, sometimes seemingly taking forever. Time stood still and flowed uncontrollably at the same time. Space warped, destroyed, reassembled, repaired—just to be destroyed again, just to be repaired again. An endless circle of destruction and insanity.
Infinite pain joined together with immeasurable pleasure, suddenly replaced by sickness, death and rebirth, a chaos of all emotions put together, all lived at once. Passing out, waking up, puking, coughing up blood, laughing, crying, screaming, all at once. The chill of death, the burning passion of life, the adrenaline of danger, the cold of failure.
Futilely reaching out with the Keyblade, something exploded in Kairi's head. Something changed, grabbed her, ripped her apart. Endless pain. Then, nothingness.
When she slowly opened her eyes, Kairi noticed she was lying facedown in sand. She tried to get up, but she was unable to, so she rolled over onto her side and started to throw up whatever was left in her stomach. She felt beyond terrible. Her skin was burning.
Kairi got on her knees and tried to slowly stand up, but she immediately fell down again. What was wrong? She could feel her body and nothing seemed to be broken.
Looking down at herself, Kairi's mind froze for a few seconds. What had happened? She didn't remember being this tall. She looked at her hands, then felt her own body with them. She grabbed at her hair, which was hanging down her back. She was finding it hard to breathe, and her feet hurt. One thousand small things she hadn't noticed before due to the adrenaline were becoming apparent.
“Oathkeeper!” Kairi said with an unfamiliar voice, and the white Keyblade appeared in her hand. At least this still worked. “Blizzard!” Kairi fired a salve of magic ice at the ground. It was shining, steaming in the heat, but it would do as mirror. Looking in it, she now knew what had happened to her.
“I'm…older?”
She was clearly herself—the eye color, hair color, and face structure were the same, but she looked much older than before. As she tried to calm down, the events from when the gateway seemingly exploded and sucked them in were coming back. But before she could get an answer, her body made it clear that this heat was poisonous for her. She coughed up more blood and crawled back to her knees, breathing heavily, almost in a panic.
“What in the world happened?” Kairi asked herself.
Was she in Agrabah? Taking a quick look around, Kairi couldn't tell. There were ruins of buildings all over the place. Red sand, like grainy blood, covered the ground. No wind, no sound. In the sky was a brightly shining red sun. This was clearly not Agrabah, but then…
Standing up, this time fully aware of her longer legs and larger body, Kairi stood without problems and made her way over to one of the larger ruins. Where were the others? She had to find them. But first, she had to do something about herself. Her hair had grown so long that it almost reached her ankles, and it was a huge hindrance. Using Oathkeeper as a means to an end, she grabbed her hair roughly at her shoulders' length and cut it off with one quick swipe. The red hair fell on the ground and remained there. Her fingernails were next. Out of a lack for a better tool, she just bit them off one by one.
Her shoes didn't fit her anymore. Neither did her clothes. Everything was too tight, too small. How much taller had she grown? It was hard to guess, but she was probably the same size as Leon now, and a bit taller than Tifa. It would be suicidal to walk on this hot ground without shoes. But she had to think first.
Taking refuge inside of one of the ruins, Kairi was struck by a strange feeling. Like she had been at this place before.
Thinking of it as superstition, Kairi looked for a room that had no windows. She soon found one and sat down against one of the walls. Even in there it was still hot. Would it get any hotter than this? This area was clearly a desert. When would night come? How long would it last? Kairi needed information.
Taking off her too-small shoes, Kairi rubbed her sore feet. Wearing those shoes would put her at serious risk if she had to engage in a battle. Her only chance was to find other clothes—stuff that whoever lived here had left behind. But first she needed to do something about her toenails. After a few minutes of pulling and some pain, she had reduced the length to no less than normal.
Barefoot, still wearing the too-tight clothes, Kairi looked through every room. The lower levels had vanished into the sand, but luck was with her this time and she found a old drawer in one of the upper rooms that contained some clothes. They were still not exactly her size, but they were a lot better than what she was wearing now. Aware that nobody would come back to take these, Kairi took whatever she could find without remorse and tried a few different sets with minor success.
In the end, there weren't many things that fit. The cloak had not vanished, thankfully. She would recover it as soon as the sun went down. Forced to choose between high heels and knee-high laced boots, she took the boots. The rest of the clothes were sort of mismatched but they were better than nothing. She could not stay here, but who knew if the other two girls were in the same condition and had better or worse luck? Clothes didn't weigh much, she would be able to take them with her.
Ripping a blanket from a dust-plagued bed that was half-claimed by the sand, she threw the rest of the clothes, including her old ones, in it and made it into a round bag, using thick strands of her cut-off hair as cord. Emergency had taught her to make use of everything in dire times.
The laced boots were actually an improvement over her old shoes. She hadn't taken into account how fine the sand in the desert was. It would have gotten into her shoes and sooner or later caused blisters. The boots were a bit tight, but otherwise okay. Since the drawer didn't contain any trousers, she had to go with a skirt, and the longest one barely reached her knees. The set was complete with a tight shirt that would conserve warmth when it got cold, even though Kairi was a tad embarrassed about how much that piece of clothing showed off her now bigger breasts.
By now the sun had made its way almost to the bottom of the horizon. Soon it would be night. Taking whatever wood she could from nearby ruins, Kairi used the small timeframe between day and night where it was not too hot or cold to gather as many things as she could. It would be crazy to attempt to travel the desert at night, so she would have to stay where she was. Even if she did find the others soon or if they found her, they needed a base of operations until they knew what was going on.
With the night came the freezing cold. Kairi chose the room without windows to rest in. After taking the old, hard mattress from the bed near the lower levels of the ruin, she burned a fire in the midst of the room, making the cold endurable. She could only hope that Olette and Naminé were okay.
---Valiant Hearts---
“Hey, where are you touching me?” Olette said, her face as red as a tomato.
She was shivering. It was freezing cold, and even though they had managed to light a fire, they were freezing. There was no cover in sight, and moving in this cold was a terrible idea. Olette had snuggled together with Naminé so closely that they could feel each other's heartbeat. What the hell had happened?
Olette had woken up right next to Naminé, even though she hadn't known that it was Naminé at that point. It took her a few minutes of confusion and pain to notice that her body was different, that she had grown quite a bit. She was a whole head taller than the grown Naminé.
Waking up the unconscious Naminé was not easy, and the blond girl broke out into panic when she didn't recognize Olette. It took them some time to adjust themselves to their situation. While Olette had Naminé cut Olette's hair pretty short, Naminé preferred hers to stay long, having it cut down only from her hips downwards. Now the length came in handy to guard against the cold.
“I wonder what happened to us.” Naminé felt terrible. Kairi was nowhere to be seen, she was cold, and they had no idea where they were nor what had happened.
“I only remember…lots of twirls, colors, and a lot of pain. We don't seem to be hurt, although I feel a bit sick,” Olette said, and pulled Naminé even closer. She had already gone through this once before, she didn't mind being this close with the blond girl.
“I don't understand what happened to our bodies. If this is another world, why would we look different? I can only think of one explanation and that is that we've aged somehow. But then why…” Olette ruffled her hair and immediately put the combined cloak back where it was. It was well below zero out and the fire and the cloak were the only things preventing the girls from freezing to death. Everything was okay as long as they kept their minds occupied, but if they fell asleep here…
“My dress is terribly tight,” Naminé complained.
“That's because of your chest. It's unfair that yours grew so big and mine didn't.” Olette sighed. Naminé was sitting directly in front of her. Part of the combined cloak served as a blanket to sit on, since the sand was now ice cold. This close together, with these bodies, Olette felt that sitting this way was different from before. Not…like that, but different.
Naminé leaned backwards, and now Olette's chest was pressing against her back. She didn't really mind. These bodies were clearly those of adults, but they really themselves weren't, not in mind.
“That's because you're always running around. They'd only get in the way, right?” Naminé smiled. Olette knew she was smiling even without seeing her. She could sometimes sense how Naminé was feeling when they were close.
“Right. But still…” Olette pretended to sulk for a while. Naminé didn't say anything.
“Do you think Kairi is okay?” It was a question she had been afraid to ask, especially to ask it of Naminé.
“I know she is. But…I wonder if she's also aged this much. Do you think Kairi will like me all grown up?” Naminé answered with a totally straight face and searched for Olette's hand under the cloak.
Olette did not pull her hand back when Naminé took hers and their fingers intertwined. She liked Naminé, and even though she could never love her as a girl, she loved her like a little sister. Up until now, Olette had never really realized how much she really meant to her.
“Tell me…how is it being with Kairi? I know I shouldn't ask this, but…” Olette took a deep breath. Why did she have to bring this up now? Was she really that curious about it?
“I don't think I can really explain it. It's nice. Kairi is really cautious of new things, and you know how long it took to just get her to open up. We do a lot of things, like I draw her, or I tell her about things I read. I love spending time with her. It makes me happy.”
“Is she…do you two have…” Olette tried to find the right words without being too embarrassed.
“I'm your friend, Olette. You can ask me anything.” Naminé smiled again and stood up. The cold instantly bit their skin, and Olette made a hissing sound from the sudden flood of cold air. It had gotten a little bit warmer under the cloak and now…
When she sat down again, Naminé changed her position. She was now facing Olette, and even though she was quite a bit smaller than Olette, Naminé could almost directly look in her face. The darkness of the night, the starless sky, and the shimmering light of the fire gave her face something noble. For a second, Olette blushed and forgot that it was Naminé, the naïve girl who was head over heels in love with Kairi, who sat there in front of her.
She came even closer. Olette could feel Naminé's body touching hers, both her arms sliding around her back as snuggled up closely to Olette. She totally disregarded the fact that her chest was pressing against the brunette's stomach, her head resting on her chest.
“This way it's warmer,” the woman, no, the girl said, and closed her eyes. She was still Naminé. Olette patted her head. Even though they were taller, older now, things had not changed between them. They would always be the same. They loved each other in a way no one else could understand. A pure love like between sisters.
“What's it like being with Yuffie? Are you happy?” Naminé asked out of the blue.
“Yes. I think.” Olette could not lie to Naminé. Maybe to Kairi or even Yuffie, but not to her. She would feel guilty of something terrible if she did. And she never wanted to be apart from her again.
“You think?” Naminé echoed, and looked up.
Not only she had changed. Olette was very tall now, probably a little bit taller than Tifa or even Leon. She was really muscular for a girl, too. Naminé could feel that there were dimensions of difference between Olette's trained body now and her past form. Her face was now more…reassuring than before. Naminé had trusted her before, but this…it was like her sheer presence was telling her that she was safe. Like Olette was someone Naminé could bet her life on, someone to protect her at all times.
“Since we got back…I was really worried about you two. Things have been really tense between Yuffie and me since. Maybe it's because I'm feeling guilty since I was off having a good time when you all were fighting for your lives. Maybe it's about Kairi. I thought I was over her. I don't know anymore.” Olette didn't know why she could tell this to Naminé so easily when it was so hard to admit it to herself in her own thoughts.
“Does Yuffie know? You should tell her,” Naminé said, and looked right into Olette's green eyes with her own blue ones.
“I don't want to break her heart. And I think I do like her…but…I just don't know. What use is it to like Kairi if she's with you? I don't want to cause you and your relationship with Kairi any trouble, and I don't want Yuffie to be alone, either.” It was easy to say that, but much harder to realize it and Olette knew it. In the end, maybe Naminé was right.
“Why can't you be with me and Kairi?” Naminé really was the one and only person to be able to ask such things with a straight face.
“It just doesn't work that way. I wish there was a 'happy end for everyone' solution, but there isn't.” Olette attempted to smile but gave up midways and instead patted the smaller girl's head.
“I believe there is. We just haven't found it yet. And…I think you should tell Yuffie how you feel.” Naminé behaved like a pet cat under Olette's petting. She closed her eyes and let her head rest on Olette's chest.
“And you're right, your breasts really didn't grow much.” Naminé said in a completely honest tone a second later. She got her hair ruffled for it.
“You can only say that because yours grew so much! I bet Kairi prefers small ones.” Olette stuck her tongue out and started to sulk, so obviously pretending that Naminé knew it was fake.
While her own dress was rather tight, Olette had other problems. Her trousers were too short now. They were more like hot pants in comparison to her height now. Her sleeves were too short now too, and the shirt she was wearing resembled a tank top with sleeves. Her shoes were the worst. Naminé's had already been in pieces when she came to, but then again, they weren't made for such a trip anyway. Olette suffered from the too-small size, especially because she had been carrying Naminé, who had been unable to walk barefoot on the hot sand of the desert.
“We need to find Kairi tomorrow. I'll try to use reflect magic to protect us against the sun, but it'll only help a bit. The magic wasn't made for that.”
Olette was thankful for any help she could get. She didn't know how much heavier Naminé was now, but it was much easier for her to carry her than before. Maybe it was because of the height difference, maybe just because she was stronger now, having the body of an adult.
“The sun should rise soon. Try not to fall asleep, Naminé,” Olette warned her companion. She thought of what else they could talk about to beat some time.
“Tell me more about you and Yuffie.”
“Fine. But you'll have to tell me about Kairi in exchange,” Olette replied, and pulled Naminé the little bit closer that was still between them.
---Valiant Hearts---
Kairi knew how to use time efficiently. There was no moon in this world, apparently, and she used the twilight of the morning when it wasn't too hot to explore the area. There were a lot more ruins to the north and the west, and a very large ruin to the east. To the south was only desert. Now she needed something to find the other two. She couldn't do anything too fancy; after all, who knew who was watching or residing here.
But luck was with her again. After thinking there was something odd about the horizon, Kairi shielded her eyes against the rising sun in the east and examined the south from a higher point. No doubt about it—there was smoke from a fire. Given her surroundings, the chances were good that it was Naminé or even both of the girls.
Which direction were they headed to? From their point of view, everything around them must be sand and more sand. Kairi could probably make it over to that southern point in less than eight hours, which was still extremely far in the heat of the day. She had to try anyway. If they went too far south, they might never find her, or she them.
Packing up the clothes and using the blanket to cover her face and head, and taking the cloak as additional protection, Kairi proceeded at maximum speed but without exhausting herself. If something attacked her, she would need to be able to fight.
---Valiant Hearts---
“That's east, so north is over there. I don't think we should go there. We should go further south, and try to get out of this desert,” Naminé said, remembering some lectures from Aerith about this.
Olette would have to force herself to keep wearing the too-small shoes. The sand was already becoming hotter by the minute and soon it would be too much to walk on. At least they didn't have any water problems. Naminé was with her, and she could conjure up magical ice as many times as they needed. Kairi could do the same, so at least Olette didn't need to worry about that.
The real problem was food. It didn't look like anything grew or lived in this vast desert. They could live on just water for quite a few days, but if they didn't find a way back or at least something to eat…
One problem after another. First they had to try and look for Kairi, or at least some sort of place to use as cover for the night.
“Wait.” Naminé stopped Olette, who was about to put on her shoes.
She ripped some fabric off her cloak and and pulled the laces from Olette's shoes, then fashioned some provisional shoes on Olette's feet and applied a Cure spell to ease the pain. “That'll do. I came up with the idea when I thought of what Kairi would do. Are you really okay carrying me? I can make some shoes for me,” Naminé said, looking at her ripped cloak.
“No. We don't know how often we need to change these. Or how long they'll hold. We can't give up our only means of staying warm at night. We'll freeze to death. Come on, I'll carry you.” It was the logical choice. Giving in here meant admitting that Olette wasn't as reliable as she thought she would be. She didn't want to do that.
Even though the additional weight wasn't much, it was tiring to walk in the soft sand while carrying someone. At least they both were uninjured. As they slowly marched south, the two girls wandered for over an hour in the brutal sun.
“Are you okay? You're breathing really heavily, Olette.” Naminé was worried. Even though Olette had the body of an adult, she had to carry another person in this heat. “We need to take a break. I don't know if this will work, but please let me down.”
Olette was about to refuse when she felt a sudden dizziness come over her that forced her to kneel to stop herself from throwing up. This was suicidal. There was nothing in sight in any direction. The smoke from their fire was long gone. What if someone who wasn't Kairi noticed the fire and was on their way to kill them? It would be impossible to fight in this heat. They had to find cover soon.
Naminé felt bad about being carried all this way and concentrated hard. She found it amazingly easy to use magic even though she wasn't in the best shape. Using a short recitation blizzard spell, Naminé formed a wall of ice that stretched out directly against the sun. It wasn't high, barely six feet, but it was three feet thick, and it provided shadow and some cold air. If they used Monochrome to carve a hole in the lower part, they could use the heat of the sun to melt some of the ice and drink the water.
“Thank you.” Olette crawled into the shadow but did not lean on the wall. It would be a bad idea to do so, as going back into the sun afterward would create too much of a temperature difference once they continued.
Naminé used some of the water to cool the sand under her feet. For some reason, this red sand refused to turn into mud when combined with water. It just…cooled down.
Reversing the position from last night, Naminé sat down behind Olette and started to apply a very weak but constant curing spell to Olette's body, trying to ease some of the fatigue. While Cure was primarily used for injuries of the body, Naminé found that the spell itself also helped with fatigue, although the effect was minimal.
“I wonder if we'll ever get back.” With a sigh, the brunette looked at the sky. She had noticed this before, but this world's sky had no clouds. The night had no stars, no moon. Where were they? This all seemed like a bad dream.
“We will. When we meet up with Kairi, we'll figure out something. The ice wall won't last long. We need to get going in maybe ten or twenty minutes. I tried to make it last longer, but this sun…”
“That's more than enough for me. I do wonder if we're going in circles, though. There is just sand all around in every direction, no matter how far I look. I am worried about Kairi.” Olette knew that they were in a dire situation, but she was thankful that Naminé was with her. If not for her, Olette probably would've died during the first night. Her inability to use any magic was becoming really hard on her.
“Thanks,” Olette whispered, and grabbed Naminé's hand on her shoulder. “I wouldn't know what to do without you.” She tried to imagine what it would be like to really love her. Olette tried but couldn't. She couldn't feel that way about Naminé, not even now. But trying to see her as Kairi saw her would maybe help her to understand how Kairi felt.
“Sometimes I'm really happy you rely on me like this.” Naminé leaned forward and hugged the taller girl in front of her. “Kairi is so independent, sometimes it's like she's pushing me away. I'm so glad you're back to talking with her. I missed you.” Naminé could say such things out loud without being embarrassed in the slightest. Olette was blushing a bit on the inside and showed a big smile.
“Let's go. Who knows how large this desert is.” Olette stood up and was ready to carry Naminé, but before she knew what happened, Naminé had put an ice cube in Olette's mouth and one in her own.
“Rations.” The girl smiled and let herself be lifted up.
---Valiant Hearts---
Kairi had found the remains of the fire. Three hours had passed since she had left her base, but the burned remnants of old wood were still there. There was no wind, no movement in the sand, so it was easy to track them. From the looks of the sand and early footprints, it looked as if two people had been there. But after a few meters, the footprints got deeper and one set of footprints disappeared. Was one of them injured? Had one to carry another?
Kairi couldn't imagine Naminé carrying Olette, but Olette carrying Naminé was quite plausible. She had to hurry, as they were heading deeper into the desert. How far could they have gone? If Olette was carrying Naminé, she had a good chance of catching them. Ignoring her need for rest, Kairi pushed on.
Not a half hour later, she found an area that was full of footprints, as if they had stopped and had wandered. There was also a part of the sand that was ice cold, like it had been frozen solid. That was clearly the work of magic ice. Kairi was now sure that these were the tracks of Olette and Naminé. Olette was unable to use magic.
They couldn't be much further. Taking a risk, Kairi used fire magic to send an exploding fireball into the sky, hoping that the others would see it. After firing three more times, she dematerialized Oathkeeper and continued to follow the tracks. The sun was at its height now, and this was not the time to wander about. But she had to find them, had to bring them back.
---Valiant Hearts---
“We don't know if that was Kairi. Something could have followed our tracks and could be trying to catch us off our guard! We have no idea where we are or what could be out there.” Olette was reluctant about going back. If the signals were a trap, and the enemy was accustomed to this heat, they had little chance of winning. What if a member of the Organization had followed them? But if it really was Kairi…
“I know it's Kairi! It just has to be.” Naminé was in favor of going back, Olette against it.
“Let's wait here. If it's not Kairi, we can always try to land a surprise hit and get away. Are you okay with using high-level magic? Not feeling too tired?” Olette knew that she would not last half an hour fighting in this heat. Naminé was her safety assurance.
“I'm okay with that. But I can sense it's Kairi. We won't have to fight anyone.” Naminé was so sure it was Kairi. Something like this had happened before. There was this link between them, something that exceeded being lovers, exceeded…
Olette took cover behind a sand dune and had both Keyblades summoned and ready. Naminé was behind another dune, using ice magic to temporarily cool down the sand to prevent getting burned by it. They didn't have to wait long.
---Valiant Hearts---
The tracks stopped not even thirty feet further in that direction. Kairi knew they must be around here somewhere. Taking another step, Kairi saw exactly what she was expecting. An ambush. Olette was rushing towards her, both Keyblades summoned to attack. That meant Naminé was probably at Kairi's back.
Summoning Oathkeeper in time, Kairi blocked the frontal assault and was instantly forced back by the sheer brute force. Olette really was strong now. In this range, Kairi stood no chance. But that meant nothing. The woman froze when she saw Oathkeeper.
Undoing the cloth around her head, Kairi looked at her fellow Keyblader and smiled. “That was one hell of an attack.”
Olette couldn't trust her eyes. It really was Kairi. And she had attacked her! Thankfully she wasn't hurt. “I'm sorry, but how was I supposed to know what you'd look like now?! These clothes, your hair!”
Kairi walked up to Olette and looked directly in her face. “Don't worry, I'm fine. Where's Nami—” They almost crashed back into the sand when Naminé jumped on Kairi's back, hugging her tightly.
“I knew you'd come for us! I'm so glad you're here now.” The magician was completely ignoring the situation.
“You sound so different. Both of you. And I see the same thing that happened to me happened to you,” Kairi said, and started to blush. She could feel Naminé's chest pressing against her back.
“You're one to talk. You look nothing like you did before. And your voice is different, too.” Olette's voice was complaining but she was also smiling. “I'm happy we're back together. But how did you find us?”
“About four hours away in the north there are a lot of ruins. I took cover there my first night. I was looking at the area from the roof of a building when I saw the smoke of your fire in the morning. I followed the direction, found the fire, and followed your tracks here,” Kairi explained. Somehow she managed to get Naminé off of her. The magician instantly started to jump around, trying to get back on the cooled-down sand.
Before anything else could've been said, Olette hugged Kairi, who was so surprised that she dropped her Keyblade, which dematerialized and vanished. “I'm so happy we're back together now.” With a smile on her face, Olette closed her eyes and enjoyed this moment of peace. She was a bit taller than Kairi now, but that didn't bother her.
“Me too. But we need to get moving. It's noon now, and we will be slower on our way back than I was on my way here,” Kairi said, patting Olette's back. She was really happy about finding them, but she was more worried about what would happen if they didn't manage to get back in time.
“Before we go, you two should look to see if there's anything in here that fits you. I didn't know if you two had grown too, so I took with me everything I could find.” She loosened up the bag that was actually just a piece of cloth with some clothes stashed inside and handed it over to Olette, who started look through it.
“Naminé, can you provide some cover again?” Olette asked before she started to take a closer look. “I don't think it's good to change in the heat of the sun. It doesn't have to last long, but it should fit all three of us in the shadow.”
Kairi could guess now what had caused the sand to be frozen solid. Naminé instantly started to chant a recitation and caused a wall of ice to erect over them, providing enough shadow for all three of them to stand.
Opening up the cloth and spreading it out on the sand, Olette started to lake a closer look at the clothes while Naminé sat with Kairi on her cloak.
After going through everything once, Olette picked a few things that looked her size and was already pulling on her shirt when she noticed that while Kairi had the modesty to look away and turn around, Naminé lacked that delicacy. Thinking of the last night, Olette thought she might as well not care, but she was still embarrassed. To her luck, Kairi pulled on Naminé's arm and told her to turn around.
About two minutes later, Olette finished up lacing up her new shoes. They fit well and even though she didn't like the style, they would be useful. “I'm done.”
Olette had completely changed out of her old clothes. Kairi turned around and had to suppress the urge to giggle. Out of all possible things, Olette had taken the black top and hot pants, along with brown half-boots. If anything, she now resembled her teacher both in appearance and fighting style.
“If not for your chaotic brown hair and your eyes, one could mistake you for Tifa from a distance. Well, except you lack in the chest area,” Kairi teased, but she could only smile. Olette didn't look bad, but she resembled Tifa so obviously that it was funny.
“These were the only things that fit!” Olette blushed and turned around. She had known that Kairi would make this comparison but it still felt weird to actually hear her say it. But what could she do? It was this or some unpractical clothes or too-small ones.
“You're next, Naminé. I hope there is something…that fits,” Kairi said, and she couldn't help but stare for a second at her chest. When she met Naminé's gaze, she blushed furiously and looked away. When Naminé passed by Olette, whose turn it was to sit down now, she whispered something that made Olette sulk when she sat down and Kairi asked her what was wrong.
“Nothing!” Olette was a bit angry and looked into the distance. It wasn't her fault she wasn't a booby monster like Naminé now or Tifa!
Naminé had it a bit harder to look through things. Either they were too big or they simply didn't fit her. The only pair of shoes left that remotely fit were another pair of boots, although these were even higher than Kairi's but not laced. The best thing she could find was a long white robe with blue stripes over the back and the parts near the hips. There was even something written on it: Verum ultra Verum.
“I'm done. What do we do with our old clothes and the leftovers?” Naminé found it difficult to walk with these new shoes, but she managed not to fall.
“Taking them with us. We don't know how long we're going to be stuck here. And we have to find out where 'here' is. But first we'll go back to the ruins.” Standing up, Kairi looked Naminé up and down. The look was entirely different from before. The appearance of a naïve teenager had vanished. Now she was looking at a grown woman who looked like a magician from head to toe.
“It suits you. It makes you really look like a sorceress.” Kairi complimented her, then proceeded to get the cloth back into the shape of a bag. The ice wall was about to vanish.
“You get compliments and I get mocked. The world is so unfair. In many ways.” Olette was still sulking. But when she looked at Naminé, the clothes really did suit her.
“I think those clothes look really good on you. Kairi was just teasing you, Olette.” Naminé knew that Olette was seriously sulking and gave Kairi, who just happened to look her way, a serious glare.
They didn't speak much after packing up. Their cloaks served well to protect from the immense heat, and the new clothes were a big help. Naminé figured out pretty soon how to walk with the boots, and Olette had no problems at all. To save time, they only rested once, but by the time the sun had almost vanished under the horizon, the ruins were still a good distance away.
“We have no choice. We need to keep going. There is absolutely nothing here we could use for a fire to pass the night. What did you two use as fuel for your last fire?” Looking around, the redhead really couldn't see anything that could serve to keep a fire going. It was impossible to maintain a fire without any material, not even a magical one.
“There was some wood around the area where we woke up. I don't know where it was from,” Olette replied, taking a deep breath. It would take less than a hour for the cold to come.
“Doesn't matter anymore. Let's go.” Kairi put the cloth back on her face, and Olette and Naminé used parts of their cloak to imitate her. They tried to maintain a little bit of warmth by keeping close to each other, but it didn't help. A half an hour later, they were freezing. And without the sun, they had no orientation, but Kairi trusted her instincts and kept going.
Not long after that, the ruins were finally in sight. The three girls looked at them for a few seconds from the top of a high dune. They were almost there. Kairi thought she saw something in the distance out of the corner of her eye, but it was too late when she reacted.
Suddenly, Naminé fell over and hit the ground. Kairi instantly knelt down over the girl's still form and felt her pulse. She was alive, but ice cold. As Naminé had no physical training, it was no wonder the cold took more of a toll on her than on the others.
Olette knelt down and picked Naminé up before she got any colder, then wrapped her cloak around her as she carried the girl in her arms. It was a hindrance, but this way, she would be warmer.
“We need to get to those ruins fast. She's as cold as the sand.” Olette was so worried that her voice was shaking a bit.
Kairi only nodded, not wasting any more breath. They started moving much faster than before, running part of the way when the ground allowed for it. They were soon out of breath, but at least the cold wasn't as brutal anymore now that they were exhausting themselves. She was a bit surprised. She knew that Olette and Naminé had become close during the incident with the Organization when Kairi had almost died, but she hadn't known that the brunette cared about Naminé this much. She couldn't put a finger on exactly why she was thinking about this. It was sort of sweet, but then…
It still took them over an hour to finally reach the ruin Kairi had used the night before. While Kairi was laying Naminé down on the mattress of the old bed, Olette was a few levels below them, trying to break up the wooden frame of the bed for a fire. After a few useless tries, Olette summoned Hero's Crest and started to hack and slash at the frame until at least the part that wasn't submerged in sand was cut loose.
Olette almost dropped the wood when she came up to the room. Kairi was sharing the blanket with Naminé, trying to warm her up.
“Put it on top of the remains from yesterday,” Kairi said, motioning towards the wood. “If it goes out, we can use the drawer in one of the upper levels.” She then got up, and Olette noticed that she was really relieved that Kairi was fully dressed, and used a fire spell to light a fire.
“Hold her for a second. I'm gonna move the mattress closer to the fire.” Olette gave a nod and picked up Naminé, holding her until Kairi pushed the mattress so close to the fire that any closer would set it aflame.
After Olette put Naminé down again, Kairi quickly left the room and came back, seconds later, with a big but thin wooden plank. “This will serve as door,” she said. “It'll leave enough air for us to breathe and it'll keep the warmth in.” Kairi placed the plank over the small doorframe that connected the room to the rest of the ruin, then vanished under the blanket.
Olette felt a bit left out. Should she just sit on the mattress and ignore what Kairi was doing? Sure, Naminé needed the warmth, but what about her? It was still cold, and there was no second blanket there, and nothing she could use to cover herself except her cloak. Pulling the cloak tighter around herself, Olette closed her eyes and tried to ignore everything around her.
Not even a minute passed before Kairi put her hand on her shoulder. What did she want now? To show off how close she and Naminé were?
“What are you doing? Do you think I can warm her all by myself? What are you waiting for? An invitation from me?” Kairi seemed deadly serious.
Olette blushed a bit at the thought of being this close to Kairi, even though the situation was a difficult one.
“We made up, didn't we?” Kairi said, looking at the ground. Her face was slightly red, from the light of the fire or from…something else, Olette didn't know.
But she didn't have to think about it any longer. Naminé was there between them. No matter how things had been in the past, she trusted Kairi and she felt that it was the right thing to do. Taking off her own cloak and collecting Kairi's and Naminé's as well, she joined the other two under the blanket, using the discarded cloaks as second blanket over them. It wasn't much, but it was an effort.
Being so close to Naminé was nothing new, even though Olette was still a little bit embarrassed about being so close to her in front of Kairi. It was so…weird. Kairi was so close that Olette could hear her breathing. She didn't do anything Olette would've thought of as offensive. No mocking. Doing nothing to Naminé. There were…ways to keep Naminé warm without her, but Kairi preferred to have her, Olette, next to her.
“You're horrible,” Olette said, and looked away. She could look right into Kairi's eyes, but she didn't for fear of the feelings that might come up. She was afraid of knowing if she really still loved Kairi.
“What did I do to deserve that?” Kairi asked. She reached out past Naminé and grabbed Olette's arm to pull her closer. Naminé was facing Olette, and while Kairi had one arm around her waist, the other was still holding Olette's right wrist.
“Nothing. That's the problem! You're with Naminé, you're a couple, and you're not doing anything! Why are you being considerate of me?” Olette didn't try to free herself. Instead, she draped her left arm around Naminé and looked directly at Kairi. The light was in her back, so Kairi wouldn't be able to see her bright red face.
“Because you're also important to me,” Kairi answered truthfully. She knew it was stupid to lie in this kind of situation and she was sick of this too. Olette deserved an honest answer and she had gotten one.
“You're just saying that. If I am also important to you, why did you reject me?!” Olette was angry now and tried to free her right wrist from Kairi's hand.
“I rejected her too, did you forget that? She taught me that it's wrong to run from your feelings. Even if they change over time. I don't want to see any of you hurt again.” Kairi's voice was shaking.
Olette had never seen Kairi like this. Naminé really had changed her. To the better. Or the worse. “But then…what should I do…?” Olette was whispering to herself, but Kairi still heard it.
“Do what your heart tells you.” Kairi knew that it was a really cliché response, but it had worked for her. After all this time of ignoring all her feelings, she had finally faced them and found love.
“You won't like that,” Olette said, taking a deep breath. But maybe it was the only way. She couldn't think clearly, couldn't think of anything else. Maybe it was time to stop lying to herself, to stop pretending that problems went away if they were ignored long enough. That some feelings were problems.
Before Kairi could respond, Olette leaned forward, and in a freezing night in a world they did not know, i
[End notes: Sigh. As usual, DH hates openoffice formatting.]