You Make a Mirror of Me (Kairi)

She heard a voice calling for Naminé, which was the first thing that seemed strange her but then, she recognised the voice, the very same voice that had called out to her when she was still trying to remember Sora's name.

Kairi paused in her footsteps, just moments after she had turned the corner. The redhead leaned against the wall, waiting to see whether it was the same person who had reached out to her while seeking out Naminé. Once she saw a flash of dirty blonde hair, she kicked her feet off of the wall and turned to face him, the ocean hues of her eyes trained on the boy before her.

So, this is Roxas. It was strange to see him in the flesh, considering that both he and Naminé had always appeared at ghostly apparitions to them. Her eyes scanned him up and down, drinking in every detail of the Nobody of her best friend, his other half — Roxas gave off a different vibe, held a more mature disposition and as she took a step towards him, leaning in close to study the details of his face, she took notice of the brewing storm detected in the depths of those eyes; it was very different from what she was used to seeing in those same blue eyes.

They smelt different too. Sora was like a breath of fresh air, ready to throw caution to the wind and he smelled like the sea and the morning air, reminiscent of their playground not too far from the shores of the mainland; there were subtle hints of sweat from running around and playing under the sun as well. As for Roxas, Kairi managed to get a whiff of sea salt, a lot stronger than the undertones of Sora, and there was a hint of pinewood lingering in the folds of his clothes.

A hand lingered over her heart, feeling the vague sense of emptiness. If Roxas were here, that meant Naminé could probably exist on her own as well. It was no wonder that had come a day that she couldn't hear Naminé as much as she used to, but she felt like it would be an appropriate thing to ask Roxas later, once they've gotten past proper introductions.

"That's not my name, I'm Kairi," the girl said in the exact tone she used in her last conversation with Roxas but there was an apparent hint of playfulness in her voice. "It's nice to meet you properly, Roxas. Naminé's told me a lot about you."

TAGGED // @tapir
NOTES // There you go

Kairi remembered the conversation far too well, about how Roxas referred to her as 'the girl he likes'. At that point of time, she hadn't thought too much about it as she desperately struggled to remember his name. It was only when his voice had somehow butted into their conversation that she remembered.

She took Roxas' outstretched hand but instead of giving a firm handshake, Kairi pulled the boy into a half-hug before pulling away. "Welcome back, Roxas," Kairi chirped, pleased to finally meet him at last. Her hands rested on his shoulders, examining the boy ever so carefully; he felt just like a normal person. When their palms had met, Kairi could feel the warmth flowing through him. It was hard to believe that Nobodies were merely just half a person, not when they felt no different from Somebodies just like herself.

Kairi could not help but giggle at Roxas' remark. "Long way indeed. Sora and Riku dropped me off here before flying off to do what they need to do," she explained, gesturing to the buildings around here. "I used to live here with my grandmother in Radiant Garden before I ended up on Destiny Islands. You could say it's sort of my home too..."

However, she knew that the both of them knew: between Destiny Islands and Radiant Garden, the isles felt more like home to her. If not, she would have found herself being transported back to Radiant Garden instead of ending up the edge of Destiny Islands, just before she had parted from Sora.

"Is..." she paused, looking around the boy for a sign of the brunette popping up of nowhere and keeping her ears open for the prominent quacking sound that only could belong to Donald and the familiar "ahyuk" laughter of Goofy but there was nothing, none of all. "... Sora not with you? Or Riku?"

Once again, Roxas' presence had reminded her of the empty space in her heart. She could still feel Naminé but not as strongly as before. "Naminé isn't here with me," she told him before he could ask. She had hoped to see the familiar flaxen-haired girl with him, considering Kairi had done her best to promise that she'd be with Sora every day so that both Roxas and Naminé could see each other.

TAGGED // @tapir
NOTES // There you go

It came to Kairi as no surprise — Sora was busy out there, travelling with his friends while forging new friendships and doing all this while sticking true to his objective of keeping the darkness at bay. However, from the way Roxas had said it, she couldn't tell whether it was pure awkwardness or there was something more; she didn't know Roxas too well but she could distinctly point out the major differences between him and Sora.

She refused to treat Roxas and Sora as the same person.

"I don't mind. In fact, you're more than welcome to," Kairi said before turning in the direction she had been heading and walking. This time, with Roxas alongside her. "I'd like to apologise for sort of breaking our promise. We tried to be together every day so that you and Naminé can be together too but..."

There was a lingering silence, a hand resting over where her heart was. "I don't really feel her as strongly as I used to," Kairi admitted, giving Roxas a concerned look. "I was hoping you'd know where she is too."

TAGGED // @tapir
NOTES // There you go. It's a tad bit short but I wanted to keep the flow there, more than anything else.

"Roxas," Kairi began, looking away from him. She remembered how the machine had exploded right in front of them. Mickey had tried to run towards him; the Princess made sure she held the King back so that he didn't do anything foolish or get himself hurt. The girl remembered being overwhelmed by a dazzling light, threatening to knock her off of her feet (she remembered Sora holding her up) and then, there had been a brief blackout and by the time she awoke, Riku managed to regain his original appearance, much to Sora and Kairi's relief.

"If you're talking about Ansen the Wise, he's no longer with us," Kairi murmured sadly. No longer here in the world of the living. Had Roxas not seen the events unfurl from within Sora?

Kairi thought for a moment before shaking her head. She hadn't felt any darkness and as a Princess of Heart, she was aware that darkness shouldn't have affected her in any form. Roxas spoke of broken promises but Kairi merely shook her head.

"Naminé and I did speak a little bit about this. Naminé understands and I don't think she was ever mad at you. As a Keyblade wielder, we carry the burden of making the worlds safe," Kairi explained. "For ourselves and for everyone else who couldn't get the chance to do so. My job, as a Princess as well as a Keyblade warrior, is to make sure those worlds are safe too — that the light would always be there, even during their darkest times."

Once that had gotten out, Roxas spoke up about wanting to question Kairi about something. At first, Kairi had flinched from the sudden intrusion of another voice in her mind, a voice that wasn't Naminé but she relaxed once she realised that it was just Roxas; they had done this before. She merely shook her head in response – people were watching after all.

"I'm not too sure," she said but she added as an afterthought, responding to his telepathic message. "Was it the same for you?"

Nod your head if it's a yes, just shake if it's a no. Let's make this look like a normal conversation as much as we can, Kairi reminded him. All I remember is that one day, I felt a little emptier, a little off.

Being a Princess of Heart meant that she was one of the those who had a heart so pure that she would be unaffected by the darkness of people around her but there were those who would want to harness her power, that they wouldn't do it through her directly — but they would be willing to kill her to get her heart into their hands.

Yet, Kairi knew that there were other alternatives than to kill her. For instance, Naminé.

Naminé was a different story: she was a being of darkness and even though she was the Nobody of a Princess of Heart, Kairi had a feeling did not make her any less susceptible to such things. She found herself staring into stormy azure orbs, quite unlike the clear blue ones she was accustomed to seeing, that she had missed so dearly for a year before finally meeting him again.

TAGGED // @tapir
NOTES // There you go.

"Oh," Kairi found herself flushing at the knowledge, even though she had found out from the moment Riku had handed her Destiny's Embrace, deeming her worthy of wielding it. Instead of saying anything more, she settled for just nodding her head to reaffirm Roxas' statement. Whatever bond that existed between Roxas and Sora seemed a little different from Naminé and her own. If anything, Naminé seemed to be more aware of what was going on around her in spite of the fact that they had long fused into a single being.

Now, it was evident that they were separate once again.

"I'm coming with you to find Naminé," Kairi said with absolution. "If you want to increase your chances of finding Naminé, then I'm your best bet since I am her Other."

The two of them continued walking and even though it was unspoken, she could feel a wave of sadness wash over Roxas, as though he had done wrong, soon after his mental intrusion. "Don't worry about it," she said, sending a smile in his direction. "I'm not used to other voices in my head apart from Naminé."

Indeed, that was the case. She hadn't meant to make Roxas feel as though he were the odd one out. In fact, most of her knowledge about Roxas was merely things she heard from both Sora and Naminé and sometimes Riku but she couldn't say she truly knew the boy, not as an individual.

"Hey, what do you say about Twilight Town being one of the stops?" Kairi said, turning to him. "Do you have a means of travel for two people this time? If we're going to talk about leads, we can start from the Restoration Committee."

TAGGED // @tapir
NOTES // There you go.

An expression akin to relief began to flicker across Roxas' face, despite his initial desire to protest. Kairi carefully observed him, noting how subtle Roxas expressed himself, from the curve of his lips to the corners of his eyes, crinkling ever so slightly at the knowledge that he would not be alone. Or at least, that was what she assumed — his search for Naminé would be made a lot easier now.

"No, Roxas. It's fine. Corridors of Darkness don't affect us," Kairi reassured him, having been told this a long time ago. Since their hearts are made out of pure light, she did not feel any sense of being overwhelmed while she had been in the in-betwixt. "It's something to do with our heights being made out of pure light."

Roxas brought up an unfamiliar term: Crossroads of the Universe. What did that mean? As usual, Sora and Riku hadn't mentioned anything like it and neither had Yen Sid. Pushing that thought to the back of her head, she jerked her head to the front, an indication that they should continue in that direction.

"Let's go find Yuffie and the rest. I'm sure they'll be able to help somehow, with the travelling situation and the supplies."

TAGGED // @tapir
NOTES // This will be my final post for this thread. Let's wrap this up!