"A red string of fate connects everyone to their soulmate."

The words were from an old legend from Radiant Garden. Kairi didn't really pay them any mind as a child because she didn't really think about such things back then, and the legend of the paopu fruit rapidly replaced the legend of the red string of fate in her young mind after she arrived on Destiny Islands. Something about the legend of the paopu fruit appealed to her more; perhaps the element of personal choice. Her grandmother had once said to her, "Soulmates are made, not born," and the legend of the paopu fruit was much more in line with that.

Still, as the years passed and she grew older, there were some nights when she wondered, was there someone she was meant to be with? Was fate working behind the scenes and controlling her destiny?

The morning after her fourteenth birthday party, she lay in her bed, hugging her pillow to her chest and trying to get the strange thoughts she'd been having about Sora lately out of her mind. Why had she felt so weird around him lately? Especially last night. She could hardly talk to him without the words getting caught in her throat and her face getting hot.

It wasn't like he had changed; he was the same dork as ever, the same lazy bum. Kairi was taller than him by about an inch now, because he was "a late bloomer," as her mother put it. The other girls on the island were fawning over various boys now, but for whatever reason, it wasn't those guys who made her feel all flustered when they walked in the room.

No, it was Sora. And if he hadn't really changed… then it meant she had.

That was the first time she remembered feeling a slight tugging on her pinkie, but then it was gone.

The next time she felt a similar tugging was when she was playing toss on the Play Island with everyone. They were trying to keep the ball off the sand for as long as possible so they could beat their old record.

"Here, catch!" Sora called, a big grin on his face as he looked at her. Something about the way he smiled made her brain shut off for a few seconds, and by then it was too late. The ball had fallen to the sand, and everyone was groaning loudly.

"Kairi, really?!" Wakka said as Tidus shook his head. "We were only two away from our old record!"

She sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry, guys. I guess I got a little distracted."

She looked at Sora again, and he said, "Hey, no big deal! We can just try again."

It was then that she felt the tugging once more. "Huh? she said softly as she cupped her pinkie in her other hand.

Then it was over. Weird.

She picked up the ball again. "Alright everyone, are you ready?"

"Ready!"

After that, the tugging got more and more frequent. It was never painful or anything, but she did notice it. During school, after school, on the Play Island, sometimes even at home… any time Sora was around, it usually happened at least once.

"Mom?" she asked one afternoon after school. She was doing her math homework at the kitchen table, and her mom was preparing dinner.

"Yes, sweetheart? What is it?"

"I think I like Sora."

Her mother paused a moment from chopping the carrots to give her a smile. "Oh really?"

"You don't… seem all that surprised."

"Well, to be honest, I'm not."

"Who told you?" Kairi asked, the blood draining from her face. If her mother of all people knew, then the entire town might know by now.

"No one. Just a mother's instinct… and observational skills."

Kairi felt her face getting hot again, and she set her pencil down and hid beneath her hands. "If you know, who else might have figured it out?" she moaned.

"Relax, sweetheart, your secret's safe with me. And trust me, Sora's clueless. I told you that boys lag behind girls on these sorts of things, remember? They usually hit their growth spurts later, and girls aren't really on their minds until they start going through puberty themselves—"

Kairi covered her ears. "I know, I know, please don't give me the talk again or even mention the p-word."

It was bad enough dealing with all the weird changes her body had been going through lately. She felt awkward and gangly, and her moods were all over the place. But she absolutely did not want to hear about the kinds of changes boys went through because it just made her all flustered and giggly and embarrassed.

Her mom had joined her at the kitchen table, and she gently pried her hands off of her ears.

"It's okay. I know all of this is awkward and scary, but it won't last forever. Someday you'll feel comfortable in your own skin again."

"I will?" Kairi said, not really believing it. Her mother was so beautiful and confident, and so were the other ladies of Destiny Islands. Kairi felt so different from them that she didn't think she'd ever reach their level.

"Yes, you will. And someday, I suspect Sora might wake up and realize you've had a massive crush on him for years."

"Mother!"

Her mom smiled mischievously and squeezed her hand. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. But if it makes you feel any better, I also think that someday, he might wake up and realize he's had a massive crush on you for years too."

Kairi pretended to bury her nose in her math homework again after that, but she couldn't get her mom's words out of her mind. Was it possible Sora liked her too?

She felt the tugging on her pinkie again. That was the first time she'd felt it without him around. Was it because she was thinking of him? Or was he thinking of her?

That thought made it entirely impossible to focus on her homework, so she set it to the side for now and helped her mother finish making dinner.

"You know what you can do to help with the embarrassment when you're around Sora?" her mom said as she handed her a potato to peel.

"What?"

"Just talk to him. The more you do it, the more comfortable you'll be around him again. And tease him, too. Not anything mean or rude, just playful banter. It'll help get your mind off of your embarrassment, and he'll understand you're just messing with him. It's what guys do with their friends to bond with them."

"That's true, he and Riku tease each other all the time. All the guys do."

"Exactly. Throw in a little good-natured teasing and be willing to take it too, and you'll be golden."

Sometimes everything changes in the blink of an eye. That was what Sora's dad had told him, but he didn't believe it until he experienced it for himself.

One day, he was waiting by the docks to see if anyone was gonna show up so they could paddle to the Play Island. It was finally the weekend, and they could ignore school for a full day before they'd need to start even thinking about homework.

Then Kairi arrived, and it was like the world had gone wonky.

"Hey, Sora!"

"Hey, Kairi—"

When he looked up and saw her, the pieces of grass he'd been fiddling with dropped from his hands. Who was this person and what had happened to the old Kairi?

"Like it?" she said as she ran her fingers through her now-short hair. "I got it cut earlier today."

"Oh, um, yeah, it looks great—"

More than great. It looked awesome. He hadn't realized how good she would look with short hair because she hadn't had it this short since they were kids.

"I mean, you look good with any hairstyle, but um, short is—"

He winced. Man, why was he having such a hard time talking today?

"My mom took me shopping too, that's where I got this outfit!" Kairi said as she twirled around for him. She wore a white tank top and a purple skort, and they looked good on her.

"Well?" she asked in a singsong voice, her face inches away from his. "What do you think?"

His heart was racing, his mouth was dry, his palms were sweaty, his face was flushing, and his stomach was doing flips, but he tried his best to form a coherent sentence.

"Um, you look great—"

She leaned back and smiled triumphantly. "Thank you."

Riku and Tidus and Wakka and Selphie arrived right around then, and Sora was glad he could get a few moments to pull it together. He wasn't really sure where Kairi's newfound boldness had come from, but he… he liked it.

His blush got worse, and a part of him wanted to sink into the ground or jump overboard into the water. What was all this weird stuff he was feeling? He felt this strange tugging in his pinkie too. What was that all about?

Then someone said something that made her laugh, and Sora grinned as she brought her hand to his mouth and giggled. She was really cute, and he always liked seeing her smile.

Oh no. Oh no. He liked her. He liked Kairi. That was the only explanation. It had been slowly creeping up on him for months and months, and it had just slammed into him like one of Wakka's blitzballs.

Crap, he couldn't let her see how flustered she was making him. She'd think he was lame or silly or a huge dork. And there was no way she liked him too. He was the resident lazy bum and they were just friends. They'd always been friends, and she couldn't possibly want anything more than that, right?

But then she looked his way. "What are you doing all by yourself Sora?" she called, tilting her head with a twinkle in her eye. "Come talk to us!"

Seeing her smile and beckon to him, he felt his worries dissipate a little. Yeah, he'd need time to think all this weird confusing stuff over, but for now he wanted to be around her as much as possible.

There was that tugging in his pinkie again. Huh. Maybe… maybe it had something to do with her.

Well, whatever the reason, he'd sort that out later too. He shrugged and joined them, and before long things felt fine. No, better than ever. He saw Kairi in a new light now, and it was like the whole world had transformed along with her.

"Kairi, are you ready for this?" Naminé asked, pressing her fingers together.

Kairi nodded and leaned back against the examination chair. "I'm sure. If there's even a chance we can find a clue in my heart that might help us find Sora, I want to search for it."

She fiddled with her pinkie finger. She hadn't felt any tugs on it since Sora had disappeared, but that didn't mean he was gone for good.

"I'm sure you know this already Naminé, because you can see the connections between hearts, but I think Sora and I are connected somehow. Part of it's because of the paopu fruit, and I know that made our connection stronger than ever. But there's an older connection too. It's fainter, but it's been there for a long time now. That's why I think searching my heart might lead to a clue."

"I think so too," Naminé said. "Maybe that connection is what brought you to Destiny Islands in the first place. It's worth checking out."

She nodded again. "Yeah. And maybe… maybe that connection will lead me back to him."

"If anyone can find him, you can. Best of luck, Kairi."

Kairi said her final round of goodbyes to everyone, and then it was time to sleep, to dream. She had to chase the connection back, back, back to where it began.

She had to find out how fate had brought her and Sora together. Then, maybe then, she'd find him and bring him home.

Whether soulmates were made or born, she still wasn't entirely sure. But if the scary man from her childhood nightmares could tamper with her fate… then maybe she could tamper with it, too. Fix it and make sure Sora came home like he was supposed to. Something felt wrong, something felt off about his disappearance, like the entire universe had gotten knocked off track. It was up to her to right things, to bring the greatest protector and defender the worlds had ever known home.

That was the promise she'd made to Sora, and those were her final thoughts before she slipped off to sleep.

Whatever the future might have in store, she would find him.

A/N: The final scene in this story was inspired by Melody of Memory and my musings about how Sora and Kairi might be connected. I'm curious about why Kairi's getting her memories from before back now of all times, and it tied in to the themes for today.

Thanks for reading!