EDIT - July 23, 2011: I fixed a few typos and changed a little of the wording so that it flowed better. I also added crediting for a line that I didn't actually realise that I'd borrowed.

Does no one like this? This is the second upload I've made of it (the old one was taken down for editing) but even though the original was up for almost two weeks, no one reviewed.

I thrive on reviews, guys. I've been so distracted by worrying that this one wasn't any good that I haven't started the next one yet. :T Please leave a review telling me if you liked it. Or even if you thought it was crap, at least then I'd know what I was doing wrong.

Disclaimer:I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything associated with it. All rights to Kingdom Hearts and affiliated characters belong to Disney and Square Enix.

Credit where credit is due: I didn't actually realise this until just now, but I subconsciously borrowed the Neopolitan ice cream reference from Nessarie, who left it as a comment in a review way back in January in response to the original 'Hands' oneshot (now called 'Coloured Hands'). Sorry about that Nessarie! But here, I credited you! :D

Summary: "I think she had it in for you." He announced. "I heard the way she was speaking to you." – "I'm your girlfriend. You're supposed to say that."

Rating: T (Kairi says a bad word)

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Romance

Pairings:SoKai

World: Destiny Islands, Two and a half years post KH2

Comforting Hands

Kairi wasn't used to failure. So as she followed the portly older woman back into the big grey office building, knowing (not 'thinking'. Knowing) that she'd failed, she felt hot and cold all over and, honestly, a little sick. Still, she tried to be optimistic. Everyone always told her that she was her own harshest critic. Her mistakes probably weren't as bad as she was making them out to be. She could still pass. She could.

She knew she wouldn't.

"Wait here in the lobby for a moment, while I calculate your score." The woman told her, shuffling back behind the counter.

Kairi sank into a vacant seat. She took a breath, running both hands over her face, pushing her hair back from her eyes. She could still feel the heat in her cheeks; she was sure her face was in splotchy patches of red and creamy-white and probably a little orange. Taking in another deep breath through her nose, she sighed and fished around in her pocket for her cell.

Finding it, she opened a blank message.

I feel sick.

She pressed the 'send' button, sighed again, and looked up as she let the hand clutching the phone drop into her lap. The interior of the stuffy office building was just as drab and grey as the outside, packed to capacity with people her age, some slightly older, with small children, some people around her parents' age, some older. She massaged a temple to guard against a headache being brought on by half a dozen screaming kids. Her cell vibrated with a new message.

R u bk?

Kairi rolled her eyes. Was he seriously asking that question?

Obviously, since I'm using my phone.

Her phone flashed once as she sent the reply. Honestly! She hadn't been that stupid during the test. Anyone who did that during the test didn't even deserve to be taking it, let alone allowed to pass.

"Kairi?"

She stood and put her phone back in her pocket as she heard her name called, and approached the counter. The lady was shuffling some papers with a blank expression. She looked up at Kairi, then down at her papers as she started to lay them out in between them, facing them towards Kairi so that she could read them.

"Unfortunately, it's not a pass." She said, tapping a section on the paper with a finely manicured fingernail. "You had three fail items. You failed to…" Kairi zoned out, staring in horror at the scoresheet. She dimly registered what the woman was telling her, storing it away for when she could fully process the information without a mantra of oh my God, oh my God, I failed! Oh my God I failed! Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! circling her thoughts. "…I need you to sign here." She finally broke through the haze in Kairi's thoughts. "Just to prove that I've explained this to you." Kairi signed on the dotted line, trying not to look like she wanted to cry. "All right." The woman took the papers back, handing Kairi the score sheet, a small card and a square booklet. "Did you want to book again, or did you want to do it online?"

"I… I'll do it online." She managed to answer, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"Alright. Have a nice day!" The woman dismissed her, turning around to speak with one of her colleagues. Kairi took yet another deep breath to hold back the tears and looked back out over the sea of people. The din of their chatter made her head throb as she searched for a familiar face.

She spotted him coming in from the front doors, smiling a wide smile at her. She pursed her lips and shook her head at him as he approached. Starting off toward him, she saw his smile falter as he frowned in confusion at her gesture, and repeated it.

"I failed." She managed to tell him as he came close enough to hear.

"Oh." His smile faded completely as his face smoothed out in soft comprehension. "Come on." He jerked his head toward the back doors, where they were parked. "Let's get out of here." She sniffed, nodded, and started off toward the doors. She was past all the people crowding the building before the tears snuck up on her.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked softly as they walked out the doors and onto the zebra crossing in the parking lot. She nodded, her hands covering her face. "Don't be too upset. Lots of people fail on the first try."

"I'm never going to hear the end of this!" She finally managed to choke out, a few tears escaping and rolling down her face. "Especially from Riku! He'll never let me live it down! Even he passed on the first try!"

"So we wont tell him." Sora decided. "We'll tell everyone that they screwed up your appointment and you had to rebook. You can do it at the one across town next month."

"What's the point?" She finally hiccupped. The tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her face. "We'd have to explain why I changed offices. I may as well tell everyone the truth."

"Fair enough." Sora sighed. "Hey," he tried to put an arm around her shoulders, "don't worry about it. You'll get it next time."

"Get off." She shrugged him off violently. "I just wanna get out of here." He tried to hug her. "Can we just get in the car?" She hissed as she shoved him away from her, slapping his hands when they reached for her a third time. "Please, Sora, I don't want to cry in the middle of the parking lot!"

He gave up. "Alright." He said softly. "Come on, we'll go to my place for a while, before you go home. Gimme the key."

She handed him the car key, dropping it into his outstretched palm before standing beside the passenger door. She opened it and slid into the seat as soon as he unlocked it, pulling the seatbelt across her body. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed; the car dipped a little as he got in the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition.

"Did she tell you what you did wrong?" He asked softly, pulling on his own seatbelt and starting the car.

She sniffed, wiping her cheeks before pulling her hands far enough away so that she could speak as he backed out of the parking space and started to pull out of the parking lot. "I—I hit the curb trying to reverse-park, and I forgot to put the car in Park and put on the hand break when doing a curb-side park. And apparently I missed a give-way, even though I swear I didn't, and—!" She buried her face in her hands again. "It was all stupid stuff! That I've done a million times before!" She wailed, her voice slightly muffled by her hands.

"Hey, it's okay." He said soothingly, turning the car onto the road. "Don't be too upset about it. It's just a driving test. You can try again."

"I'm not upset about that." She managed to answer, breathing heavily to try to arrest control of her tears again. "I'm just… disappointed. And everyone was all, like, 'you'll ace it', and 'you'll have no problem!'." She sighed, wiping her eyes again. "That's what makes it worse."

"I thought you weren't gone long enough to pass." He confessed.

"No, I did the whole course." She shook her head.

"Really?" She nodded. "Huh." He paused for a moment. "I didn't think you'd get it anyway—" he ignored her indignant spluttering, "—you already looked worried before you got into the car. You looked scared when she was going through the booklet."

Kairi looked at the items still in her hands – the little square booklet with her learning log, and her learner's permit. She slipped the card back into her purse. "Yeah." She admitted. "I was already going 'oh my God, oh my God, oh my God' before I started. And she was such a… a bitch!"

"I think she had it in for you." He announced. "I heard the way she was speaking to you at the counter when she was looking at your log book."

"I'm your girlfriend." She gave a watery giggle. "You're supposed to say that."

"No, I mean it." He said earnestly. "She was rude. I wouldn't have let her talk to me like that. And Riku would probably have given her a black eye." He brightened up. "Hey! That's what we can do! Sic Riku on her!" She smiled at him, giving a weak chuckle. Sora quirked a small grin that she couldn't see. "We can go back there. I can ram her with the Keyblade, if you want."

Kairi made a sound between a hiccup and a giggle. "No. That's okay. I'll just practice more and try again."

"That's the spirit." He smiled, pulling into his driveway. "Come on, let's go inside. I'll make you a hot chocolate."

Kairi gave a genuine smile as he held the front door open for her, bending over to kiss the crown of her head as she passed. She shrugged out of her coat, grateful that his mother had forgotten to turn off the heating before she'd left for work – it was only mid-fall, but it was getting chillier by the day. Sora passed her, muttering something about milk; she followed, and caught sight of her reflection in a mirror in the hall. She frowned. Her face was, just as she'd predicted, all blotchy in various shades of cream and red, and her eyes were red-rimmed from her earlier tears. With her hair falling out of the messy bun she'd thrown it in that morning, she looked like a mess. She was lucky her make-up was waterproof!

"I look horrible." She announced, pulling the elastic out of her hair and letting it tumble down her back as she entered the kitchen, sitting on a stool and watching him potter about, looking for cups and the drinking cocoa powder.

He looked at her over his shoulder. "You look fine to me."

She gave him A Look. "My face looks like Neapolitan ice cream."'

"Without the chocolate." He reached over and tweaked her nose. She laughed as she made a swipe to grab his retreating hand, and missed. "And I love ice cream, remember?"

"That is so corny." She rolled her eyes, the gesture at odds with the big smile on her face.

"And yet," he pulled two mugs out of the cupboard with a flourish, "here you are. With me. And my corniness."

She mock-sighed. "Alas, why must my heart be set on the likes of such a foolish individual?" She asked dramatically, grinning at his mock-hurt expression as he clutched at his heart.

"My love, I shall have you know I am quite sensible!" He cried. He then pretended to have a spark of realization. "Say it isn't so! Say there isn't another!"

She burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. "Of course not, you great lug." She reached over and patted him on the head. "I only have eyes for you." She settled back in her seat.

"Well, that's a comforting thought." He smiled, turning back to finish preparing the hot chocolate.

She rested her arms on the island bench, frowning. "Hey, Sora? How come this thing is vibrating?"

He placed a steaming mug in front of her. "It's not." He said softly, taking her hands in his. "You're trembling."

With her small ones cradled in his large, warm, rock-steady hands, she realized that he was right. She felt the tears that he'd been keeping at bay sneak back up on her and sting her nose. "Right." She took her hands from his and wrapped them around her mug, warming her cool fingers. She lifted the hot mug, careful not to spill any and burn herself as she sipped at it. "Hey, Sora? Can I stay here for a while?"

He must have heard the tears back in her voice. "Sure." He moved around the island and took the stool next to her. She murmured a soft thanks before he gently took her mug from her hands and placed it next to his on the counter in front of them. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and this time, she didn't shake him off; instead, she gripped at his shirt and he turned so that he was forced to stand to hold onto her, wrapping his arms around her properly and using his hands to rub small circles on her back, his lips on her hair. From her seat on the stool, she buried her face into his chest and desperately tried not to cry too loudly.

It's really starting to look like I have a thing for making Kairi suffer… I don't! I swear, I don't. It's just… the way these particular ones work. And it's meant to be fluff; what's fluffier than an adorable boy looking after his crying girlfriend, I ask you? Nothing. That's what.

But I will try to ease up on the Kairi-torture next time.

Anyway, please review. :D Like I said before, I only got 1 review last time, so I was quite disappointed. :( I'd like to hear from more of you!

Thanks for reading.

Sparkly Faerie