Riku: Geez, Kairi, you're the main character of the chapter again?

Sora: Let someone else be the main for the change! The story is Sora 100 Percent!

dude overdrived: You may be the main character, but you're not the only one.

Kairi: Yeah! So be quiet and let me do my thing!

----------Beginning----------

Chapter 17: Memories of Childhood Lost

Sunday...

It was Sunday morning. In a few days, it would be the beginning of December, and that much closer to a white Christmas. It was beginning to get a little chilly in the Destiny Islands. It never snowed in the Destiny Islands, though the cold easily discouraged anyone from wearing shorts and a t-shirt outside.

"Kairi! Breakfast!"

Kairi did not even hear her mother calling for her. Kairi had isolated herself in her room, barely making any contact with the outside world. This had actually been happening for the past week, the week after she and the others got back from Grome. During that week, she did not make any contact with any of her friends. And even during Thanksgiving at the Dawson family reunion, she kept to herself and barely talked. The reason? Those words that Meg, Hercules's girlfriend, said to Kairi kept repeating themselves in Kairi's head.

"Little miss, if you truly love that boy, you will continue pursuing him, as I pursue Wonderboy. But if you don't truly love him, then you should save yourself the heartbreak and let him go. Let him follow his own path."

The boy Meg was talking about? Who else but Sora Keiman. Sora, a friend of Kairi's from childhood. She eventually found that she was immensely attracted to him. But recently, she began to question the true bounds of her feelings.

"If you truly love that boy, you will continue pursuing him."

"If you don't truly love him, then you should save yourself the heartbreak and let him go."

Kairi looked to her nightstand. On it was a picture of her, Sora, and Riku. Riku was behind the two of them, playfully putting his hand on both of their heads. Kairi seemed to be laughing. Sora's mouth was open, as if he was about to yell at Riku when the picture was taken.

"If I truly love Sora, I'll continue pursuing him? But if I don't, I should save myself the heartbreak?"

Kairi groaned and slumped back into bed. She had no idea how to decipher her own feelings.

"I know that I do love him. But do I love him enough to matter? Is it true love, like soul mate love? Or is it toned down love, like that of a teenage girl's crush? Or...am I just jealous of Rikku and Tifa?"

Kairi immediately shook the thought away. "No, it's not jealousy. But then what is it?"

"Kairi, I said it's time for breakfast!"

Now Kairi heard it. She jumped up from bed and hastily fixed her clothing. "Coming!"

-I-

Kairi walked down the hallway to the dining room. Her mother and father were sitting beside each other at the table. There were several plates on the table, filled with fluffy scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, and light blueberry pancakes with syrup. Kairi's parents had coffee mugs in their hands.

"Morning, mom. Morning, dad."

"Morning, hon," Kairi's mom said. Kairi's mother was a beautiful woman, with long, red hair styled in a ponytail. It was easy to see where Kairi got her looks from.

"Mornin', muffin," Kairi's dad said. Kairi's father was a handsome man, having a good build and tall height. He was also a very tough man. It was easy to see where Kairi got her toughness from.

Kairi sat down and quietly added food to her plate. As she nibbled on a piece of bacon, she looked at her parents. Mom was blowing on her coffee to cool it down. Dad was drinking from his mug and reading the newspaper.

"Um, guys? Can I talk to you about some girl stuff?"

Dad coughed on his drink. He quickly folded the newspaper and put it under his arm. He then stood up from the table and took his mug and plate with him.

"Um, honey, your mother can talk to you about 'girl stuff.' It was one of our vows, that she would do all the talking with you."

"We did not vow on that," Mom said with a scoff.

"Well, your mother probably knows more than I do. I'll see you when you're done with your talk."

With that, Dad quickly walked out of the dining room and went to the den. He turned on the local news.

Mom smiled at Kairi. "Alright, Kai. What do you want to talk about?"

Kairi sighed. "What's love?"

Mom chuckled. It was a question that she had been preparing for years to answer.

"Love...is many things. It is a word that frees us from the stress and burdens of life. It is friendship set ablaze. It is the desire to be desired. The one true adventure of life, far more exciting than any hike or expedition. But the meaning I believe in the most is that it is the thing that reveals your true self. The one thing that gets your soul to come out from hiding."

My true self...have I discovered anything new about myself since I found out I loved him?

"Why ask?" Mom said, cooing. "Has my little girl found love?"

Kairi turned red. She did not want her parents to find out who she potentially was in love with. "N-no mom, it's not like that."

"Is it Sora?"

Kairi grew flustered. "W-what?!? No, of course not!"

"Oh, Kairi dear, it's okay to admit it! Sora is a wonderful young man!"

"I agree!" Dad called out from the nearby den. "He's a good kid!"

"If you want to join in on the talk, you can just come back in here!" Mom called out to Dad.

"I'm good!"

Mom turned back to Kairi. "Is it true, sweetie? Is it Sora?"

"Mom, I really need your help. How can you tell the difference between true love or a crush?"

Mom blinked. "Kairi, dear, is it really that hard for you to tell the difference?"

"Yes it is!" Kairi whined. "I came to you for help, not criticism."

Mom nodded and folded her hands. "Yes, I understand. Well, let's start off with this. How do you feel when you are around Sor- er, this boy?"

Kairi thought for a moment. "Well...I really enjoy being around Sor- er, this guy. He's really fun, and a great friend. I can't imagine a life without him."

Mom nodded. "Mhm. To me, this sounds like you're talking about him more like a best friend, not someone you truly truly love. Maybe it's just friendship you're misinterpreting as a crush."

"But I want him. I want him to hold me close and tell me how he really feels about me. I want him, I really do."

"Then maybe it is love. A bit obsessive love."

Kairi prevented herself from yelling at her mother. "But, then what if I just like him 'cause other people like him too? What if it is just a crush?"

"Then maybe it's a crush."

Kairi groaned. "Mom, you're just making me go back and forth and back and forth! A little advice would be helpful right now!"

"Well, the road to an answer can be long and exhausting, both physically and mentally. That's why we can't just skip ahead to the answer. We have to retrace steps and start from the beginning, to make sure no important detail is left forgotten."

"Start from the beginning?" Kairi repeated.

Mom smiled at her daughter. "Yes, from the beginning. We have all day to do this, so why don't you start off telling me about when you first started feeling for this boy, or even better, when you first met?"

Kairi thought back to her past. Although she was very young when she first met this boy, she could remember all the adventures she had with him clearly...

-II-

Yawn!

Little Kairi tiredly opened her eyes. Stretching her arms, she sat up in her pink bed. As she was very young, Kairi did not have her own room, as she was currently too afraid to be by herself. After all, the scary monsters of the dark might take her away. So for the meantime, she was sleeping in her parents' room with her teddy bear, right beside their bed. When she woke up, she expected to see her parents still sleeping in their bed. However, when she peered up at the large bed, they were not there.

"Mommy? Daddy?"

Kairi got out of bed, hugging her teddy bear close to her. She went out the door and walked down the hallway. She still did not see any of her parents.

"Mommy? Daddy?"

Kairi continued walking, and soon left the hallway and entered the kitchen. There, a happy surprise awaited her.

"Happy birthday, Kairi!" her parents simultaneously yelled.

Kairi squealed with delight and ran to her parents. She hugged both her mother and father. Beside them was a big chocolate ice cream cake, Kairi's favorite. Kairi squealed again at the thought of having the cake in her mouth.

"You 'membered!" Kairi said happily.

"Of course! It's not every day my little girl turns 5-years-old!" Dad exclaimed as he hugged Kairi again.

"I wanna eat cake!"

"Hold on, Kairi. Don't you want to open...your present?" Mom suggested as she whipped out a large box wrapped in gift wrap.

Kairi shrieked with excitement. "Present, present!"

Mom placed the present at Kairi's feet. But as Kairi was about to claw her hands into the gift wrap, Mom stopped her.

"Hold on, let's take a picture first!"

Dad took out a camera and got beside Mom. Kairi and her present got in front of them. They smiled as Dad held out the camera far enough to take a picture of all of them.

"Cheese!"

Snap!

"Okay, now open it!"

Not wanting to wait any longer, Kairi ripped her hands into the wrapping and tore it away. She bleated exuberantly upon seeing the present box.

"The Disney Princesses doll play set!"

"Yep! We know how much you wanted it!"

Grateful, Kairi hugged her parents all the more warmer. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Ding-dong!

"I wonder who that could be?" Mom went over to the front door to open it. When she opened it, she saw two young boys standing outside the door.

"Hello, lady!" one of the boys, a brown-haired boy greeted.

"Don't say that, Sora. Hello, ma'am," the second boy, a silver-haired boy, greeted more politely.

"Why hello, and just who might the two of you be?" Mom asked, bending down to the boys' level.

"I'm Sora," the brown-haired boy said.

"And I'm Riku," the silver-haired boy said.

"Who is it, hon?" Dad called out.

"It's two young boys. They seem nice."

"I'm nice," Sora said. "But Riku can act like a butthead sometimes."

"You're talking about yourself, smart one," Riku retorted.

"Hey, maybe some cake will make you two more friendly with each other," Mom suggested.

"Cake? Okay!" Sora eagerly said, hopping up and down.

"Sure, some cake would be good," Riku complied.

"Well, come on in. My little girl's birthday is today."

Sora and Riku walked into the house. Kairi stood up and ran to them.

"Hello!"

"You must be Kairi, the new girl," Sora stated. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Sora."

"Hello, Sora," Kairi said, laughing. Sora smiled, laughing as well.

Riku cleared his throat. "There's someone else here."

Kairi blinked and looked at Riku. "Oh, sorry!"

"It's okay. I'm Riku."

"You guys wanna eat some cake with me?" Kairi questioned.

"Yeah!" the two guys replied. Kairi laughed again. It seemed like the three of them could be good friends.

-

"Mommy, can me and my new friends eat in the backyard?" Kairi asked her mother.

"Sure thing," Mom agreed, opening the back door for her.

Happily, the three kids, with their plates of cake, went into the nice and cool backyard. Kairi's dad pouted.

"I wanted to take some more pictures," Dad protested.

"Oh, let her play with her new friends. They're the first two to actually try to be friends with her."

The three of them sat on the ground. Kairi dug her fork into her cake and took a bite, with Sora and Riku doing the same.

"How you guys know who I am, anyway?"

Riku gulped down his bite of cake. "This is a small island. Everyone knows who everyone is, and they also know the new people who come in."

"But aren't we on the Main Island? Why aren't there more people here?" Kairi asked.

"Because more people enjoy the other islands, like Domingo and Tierra," Sora spoke up. "I think that more people will come here when the new amusement park-thingy opens up."

"Yay, amusement park!" Kairi whooped. "They're fun!"

"Yeah, like those awesomes roller coasters! They're, like, so cool!" Sora exclaimed.

"But Sora, we're too young to go on coasters!" Riku announced.

"I know! That's why when we go in line, we get huuuuge shoes and fill the insides with sponges or something so's that we look taller!"

Kairi burst into laughter. "That's so funny!"

"Funny? But I'm being serious!"

This only made Kairi laugh harder. "Hahahahahaha!!!"

Riku chortled as well, wiping a tear from his eye. "Sora, stop before you make her throw up."

"But I'm totally serious! And if that doesn't work, we can probably get a huge trench coat and stand on each other's shoulders so we look like an adult!"

Kairi cracked up and fell backward, laughing harder than she had ever laughed before.

"Guys, I'm being completely ser-"

Riku put his hand over Sora's mouth and pushed him down.

"Okay, that's enough. I think she about to die."

Her laughter finally dying off, Kairi sat back up and finished with a few giggles.

"Sora, you're a funny guy!"

"Yeah, that's why I'm cooler than Riku!"

Riku ignored the comment. "You know Kairi, your mom is really pretty."

"I knows, I want to be as pretty as her when I grow up!"

Riku chuckled. "I wish she would tuck me in at night."

Sora playfully pushed Riku. "You're acting like one of those weird teens on the those funny bath operas."

"You mean soap operas?" Riku clarified.

"You guys are the awesomest friends ever," Kairi proclaimed. Kairi had not had much contact with very many other kids, at least not since she was a baby in daycare. It made her ecstatic to be with other kids her age.

"Are you guys best friends?"

"Yeah! Me and Riku are like this," Sora said, folding his hands together.

"Sora's weird, but I still let him be my friend." Suddenly, Riku gripped his stomach. "Aw, the cake is making me feel funny."

"Maybe you have to go poop?" Kairi proposed.

"Maybe." Riku then got up and ran into the house. It was now just Sora and Kairi in the backyard.

Kairi went and sat closer to Sora. Sora grinned.

"You're the first girl I ever talked to. Other than my mom."

Kairi giggled. "I've talked to other guys before you. But I like you better."

Sora widened his eyes, albeit comically. "You like me?"

"Not like that, silly!" Kairi said with a laugh. "I'm too young to like other guys."

"But I like other girls!"

Now it was Kairi who widened her eyes. "You like girls?!? But you're only 5!"

"You're never too young to like people. Jus ask Riku, he know all about it!"

Kairi thought in awe about her new discovery. "I can't believe it. You can be 5, and it's okay to like guys?"

"Fo you. Fo me, it's girls."

Kairi snickered. "Hey, Sora. Do you like me?"

"Huh?" Sora raised his eyebrow. "Uh, yeah! I like you!"

"Really? Then I like you too!" Kairi bellowed.

The two of them convulsed in laughter, happy that they liked each other. But since they were young, they did not grasp the true meaning of "liking" someone. But still, it was a start, right?

-

And eventually, in a little over a year, Kairi had to move away from the islands. She was forced to leave behind Sora and Riku, who she knew she would miss dearly. But as she turned 6, she noticed that she would miss Sora most of all. Although she no longer thought about him that much, she still thought about him occasionally. Everytime she thought of him, she would wonder what he was doing. Was he still friends with Riku? Was he dating anyone? These questions flooded her head everytime Sora ran across her mind.

And then the day came in the summer when her father announced that they would be moving back to the Destiny Islands, only this time, it would be permanent.

Kairi had smiled upon hearing the news. "Sora..."

-III-

"I may have forgotten about a lot of things, but I doubt I'll forget those memories of my childhood. They'll stay a part of me, forever."

Mom listened in on Kairi's story thoughtfully. "Ah, the memories are the key."

Kairi looked at her mother questioningly. "The memories are the key?"

"Now that you told me this, I have deduced two possible answers."

"But mom, that just brings us back to square one!" Kairi whined, unhappy that her reminiscing didn't help in the slightest bit.

"But one of the answers is different. The first possible answer: you love him."

"The obvious one," Kairi grumbled.

"And the second: you long for your childhood."

Kairi blinked. "My childhood? But I'm just a teenager."

"Exactly. A teenager with teenager stress and angst. This is why you look to your childhood to reminisce about those stress-free days. You long for the happy-go-lucky person you once were. And Sora is the link to that childhood."

Kairi was surprised. The path to the answer was exactly how her mother had described it. A very tough road to a very tough answer. But now the tough trek was almost over. She was now left at a fork in the road. She would just have to decide which was correct.

"Mom, you've helped me through this road. And now I'm left with two simple possibilities. Is there anything you can do to help me find the correct one?"

Mom sadly shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kai. You're going to have to find the answer for yourself. Are you in love with Sora? Or are you simply the best of friends?"

Kairi had a big decision to make. Was she going to allow Sora to go his own way? Or was she going to allow this harem to continue?

-IV-

As soon as he got that phone call, Sora rushed over to Kairi's house. He had gotten very worried about Kairi during the past week. She did not make any contact with him or any of their other friends. The phone call that came that day was the wake-up call he needed to finally man up and go see her.

-

"Hello, Sora?"

"Kairi! I was getting worried about you!"

"Oh, you were?"

"Course I was! I haven't heard from you in a week! I wanted to go to your house before, but I had this strange feeling that you wouldn't want me there..."

"Well, that's the exact opposite of what I want right now. Can you please come over here?"

"I'm already out my door!"

-

When Sora finally reached Kairi's house, he panted and panted as he rang the doorbell. But as soon as the door opened, he stopped panting and stood up straight. Kairi answered the door. She gave him a small smile.

"Hey, Sora."

"Uh, hey! Kairi, I'm glad to see you!"

Kairi nodded. "Come on inside."

Sora went into the girl's house. He had not been there in a while. Though everytime he went in, he would remember the day he first met Kairi, when they had cake and talked out in the backyard.

Kairi went to the refrigerator and took out a tray. "Sora, I was thinking that we should eat some cake."

Sora could not help but let out a light snort. "Kairi, don't you remember what happened the last time you offered me cake? Do you really want to go through the post-cake awkwardness again?"

"Don't worry, it's not paopu fruit cake this time." Kairi took the foil off of the tray. In the tray was a fluffy brown cake with white lining.

Sora knew what kind of cake it was. "Is that...chocolate ice cream cake?"

Kairi beamed. "You look surprised."

"Well, just seeing that cake in this room, it makes me think about when we were younger and-"

Before Sora could continue talking, Kairi abruptly handed him a plate. "Come on. Let's eat it in the backyard."

-

Sora and Kairi sat down on the ground. Sora dug his fork into his cake and took a bite. Kairi did the same.

Sora looked around the backyard. Memories of childhood lost came flowing back into his mind. They were his first memories of Kairi. Memories of that day when she so nicely offered them cake despite meeting them for the first time that day. Memories of Riku having that awkward bowel movement. Memories of them telling each other that they...that they...what was it?

"Roller coasters," Kairi said suddenly.

Sora looked at Kairi oddly. He was not sure why she had said that. Then that funny memory came back into his mind as well.

"Oh, yeah. If we're too short to go on the roller coaster, then we should stand on each other's shoulders and wear a huge trench coat to make it look like we're one adult."

Kairi smiled warmly. "So you remember that day, too."

"Of course I remember it. That was the day I met you."

"Do you remember everything? Do you remember what we told each other?"

Sora frowned, upset that he couldn't remember. "I...faintly remember us telling each other something. But I just can't seem to remember what."

Kairi forcefully took Sora's plate from his hand and placed it on the ground beside her plate.

"Hey, I was eating-"

All of a sudden, Kairi pushed Sora down. This caught Sora off guard. He was about to yell, but was instantly quieted by what Kairi did next.

With Sora lying down, Kairi went on top of him and basically straddled him. She stared into his eyes expectantly. Sora felt his heart rate quicken.

"U-uh, Kairi, w-what are you-"

"I have to do this, Sora. I have to know the truth behind my precious feelings."

Kairi leaned down, her eyes still staring deep into Sora's eyes. Sora himself was not sure what was going to happen...

-

And in the blink of an eye, tender lips touched. Two souls had just made intimate contact for the very first time.

Kairi fought. She fought for the truth. And she knew that in that kiss lied the truth.

The intimacy was an intense feeling of bliss. It made Kairi feel like she was the only woman left in the world, and Sora was the only man left in the world. And that was a good sign.

As Sora and Kairi kissed, she imagined the two of them alone in a room. The two of them were surrounded by waves of memories of childhood lost. The two, the kiss and the memories, coexisted peacefully within Kairi's heart.

Finally, Kairi pulled away from Sora. Refreshed, she looked up at the sunny sky.

"There was a third path in the fork."

She looked down at Sora. He still appeared a little shocked by what just happened, but he also looked like he was expecting something else to happen.

Kairi grinned. She then lay down on Sora and hugged him.

"I love you, Sora."

----------End----------

-Sorry about this late update. Been a little busy with some final projects for school. The next chapter or two will be Christmas themed. R&R.-