Comb

The day had finally arrived. An elegant white dress hugged Kairi's frame, and she ran a brush through her hair as Aqua dug several bobby pins out of their little container.

Hair, makeup, nails, clothes. So much prep to do, but it would all be worth it in the end.

She paused to tap her cheek. Let's see, after this, I still have pictures with the bridesmaids, and then—

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts, and Aqua sprung up to get it. She'd probably been expecting one of the other bridesmaids, the mother of the bride, anyone but the groom himself.

"Sora, what are you doing here?!" she scolded, positioning herself to block his view of Kairi. "It's bad luck to—"

Sora pointed at his face and grinned. "Don't worry, I've got a blindfold on. Can't see the bride if my eyes are covered, right?"

Sure enough, a deep red cloth that looked suspiciously like one of the dinner napkins was tied around his eyes, his messy hair sticking up every which way in its adamant refusal to be tamed by anything or anyone.

"Speaking of which, where is she?" he asked. Lifting his hands, he felt the doorframe, Aqua's arm, and then the air, stumbling around in an adorably earnest fashion as he entered the room.

"Over here," Kairi called from her seat by the mirror, and his expression softened into a heartwarming smile. Aqua steered him in the right direction, and he made his way over to Kairi with minimal bumps and collisions.

Kneeling beside her, he reached for her face. She caught his hand and guided it to her cheek, and his touch was tender and gentle as he caressed it.

"You look amazing," he whispered.

"I thought you weren't looking," she teased.

He found her hand and kissed it. "I don't have to."

She knew he was telling the truth. He'd already warned her that once he saw her, he was going to start crying. No tears right now, so that meant his heart was filling in for what his eyes couldn't see yet.

"You don't look half bad yourself." It was true. He looked great in his tux. She took a moment to smooth his lapels and straighten his bowtie.

He smiled and fumbled around in his pocket for something. "Have you done your hair yet?"

"Nope. Aqua was just about to—"

"Good." He pulled out a small comb. The teeth were delicate and silvery white, and the top piece had an elaborate design of seashells and paopu fruit and ocean waves painted on it.

"It's beautiful," Kairi murmured. The light reflected off its iridescent surface, and she ran her fingers over it.

"It was my mom's," Sora said. "She wore it for her wedding, and she wants you to have it."

Kairi tried very hard to fight the lump in her throat. Forget Sora crying, she wasn't sure she was even going to make it to the ceremony without turning on the waterworks.

"What?" he said softly.

"You," she said, bopping his nose and giggling as he started. "Are you trying to make me cry?"

He grinned. "And ruin all your makeup? I know better than to do that." He stood, and Aqua came to the rescue to guide him behind Kairi.

His hands found their way into her hair, and he spent a few moments running his fingers through it and massaging her scalp.

"I did brush my hair just now, you know," she said, grinning.

He leaned over in the general direction of where he thought her ear was. Kairi stifled another giggle at how off he was. "I know," he said. "Just making sure you got all the tangles out."

Playing with her hair was one of his favorite things to do. They'd spent countless lazy afternoons on the beach with him running his fingers through it and coming up with as many elaborate new hairstyles for her as he could.

He'd gotten so good at it, in fact, that even though he was blindfolded, he only needed some help from Aqua to get a basic French twist in place. After that came the comb, which was carefully tucked into the updo to hold it all together. Aqua could take care of the rest – the fringe of curls that Kairi wanted to frame her face, as well as the bobby pins and hairspray to keep everything secure.

"There," he said, bending down to kiss her cheek and finding her ear instead. "Better go back before Riku realizes I—"

She grabbed his face and guided his mouth to hers. He hummed his surprise before melting into the kiss, and his hands fumbled around for a moment until he finally managed to weave them into her hair.

When the kiss had ended, he took a few deep breaths and reached out a hand to steady himself. "I thought – I thought we were gonna wait for that until later."

She gave him a sly smile. "Are you objecting?"

"No." He kissed her nose. "Not at all. In fact—"

At the sight of the deep red his lips had turned, she giggled.

"What?" he asked, his tone curious, and she knew the exact look that must be in his eyes right now.

"My lipstick's all over your mouth now." She grabbed a tissue and tried to wipe it away. "Sorry about that."

He gave her a big, goofy grin, like they were still teenagers who had just been caught making out in the bushes. Glancing in the mirror, the slight outline of his lips rested on her nose now, too.

Oops. Sorry, Aqua.

He brought his hand to her cheek. "I wish I could see you right now."

She put her hand over his and gave him a sympathetic smile. She was looking forward to the moment he could finally see her walking down the aisle, too.

"Sora, there you are." Riku strode into the room and brought them back to reality. After exchanging an amused glance with Aqua, he grabbed Sora's arm and hauled him towards the door.

"That's enough canoodling with the bride for now. You'll get to do a lot more of that later on."

Sora's hand went to his eyes. "Riku, hang on—"

Sure enough, the blindfold was slipping off. Aqua came to the rescue again. She clamped her hand over his eyes just in the nick of time.

Kairi could only laugh again as Aqua and Riku dragged him out of the room. Looking back in the mirror, she turned her head this way and that, hoping to catch a glimpse of the comb.

"Here," Aqua said, holding up a small mirror so Kairi could see the back of her head. The comb looked nice, its pearly surface a perfect match for her dress. Like they were always meant to go together.

As she finished her hair and touched up her makeup, she kept thinking about the moment Sora would see her for the first time in her wedding dress.

The reality, as it turned out, was much better than her imagination.

It was much better by far.

MzellLazuli requested a story about Sora playing with Kairi's hair, and somehow it morphed into the two of them sharing a moment before their wedding because I am a hopeless romantic at heart. Hope you enjoyed it, and as always, thank you for reading!