The Way of Friendship

Chapter 1- The Normal Life

He yawned, opening his eyes. The first thing he saw was a bright blue, cloud filled sky. The brightness made him shut his eyes, eventually slowly blinking them open. Yet again, he yawned, sitting up as he did. Sure, he had just been asleep, but another nap sounded good. Yep, it definitely sounded good. He leaned back to lay down, and just when he was almost in the right position, he found someone leaning over him and threw himself back up into a sitting position, yelping. Behind him, the person was giggling.

He huffed, not even needing to look back to see who it was. "C'mon, gimme a break, Kairi."

The girl he had called 'Kairi' was still laughing. "Sora, you lazy bum. I knew that I'd find you snoozing down here."

The boy she called 'Sora' immediately shook his head. His bangs moved in unison with him, sweeping gracefully across his view line. "No, I swear, there was this big black... thing that swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't-" He stopped as Kairi bonked him on the head.

"Are you still dreaming?" The girl's tone was obviously humorous and teasing, and that alone was enough to make Sora's face spark up in heat.

Sora opened his mouth to protest, insisting, "It wasn't a dream!" He tried to insist, despite the doubt starting to cross his mind. He frowned then, humming silently. "Or.. or was it? I dunno..." He sighed then, looking out toward the water. "What was that place? So bizarre..."

Kairi giggled again, entering Sora's field of view as she started to walk toward the edge of the water. "Yeah, sure."

Sora tried to protest, but unfortunately for him, no words appeared in his mind to come to his rescue- probably due to how he had just woken up. Grudgingly, he decided it was better to change the subject. After pondering over what he could talk about, he smiled and turned back to look at his friend, who appeared to be spacing out. He adjusted his position on the sand, now sitting with his weight slightly leaning on his hands.

"Say, Kairi." He began to say once he was comfortable, "What was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up?"

"Hm..." Kairi looked deep in thought suddenly, staring at the water. "It was... very pretty. I had a grandma there, and she would tell me this story." She giggled then, sounding nostalgic. "There was a lot of flowers, which I would pick from time to time to give to people if they were feeling bad. Oh! And people would often refer to it as the 'Capital of Light'." She giggled yet again, waving her hand dismissively. "Whatever that meant."

Sora hummed, his head cocking to the side. "Well, do you remember what the story was about?"

Kairi then giggled again. "I've told you before, I don't remember."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing." The girl replied, her head turning upward to face the sky. "But- I wouldn't mind going back! It would be nice to see my old home."

Sora chuckled softly, nodding. He sat with his arm draped over his knee, smiling. "I'd like to see it, too! Along with any other worlds out there. I wanna see 'em all!"

Kairi turned around with a small chuckle, smiling back at him. "So, what're we waiting for?"

"Hey!" A familiar voice said. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

Sora threw his head back, groaning. "Riku."

"So, I see I'm the only one working on the raft." 'Riku' shook his head at them, tossing a log at Sora.

Sora let out a small scream as the log headed straight for him, and he tensed, his hands straight up to catch it. Luckily, it landed in his arms, but the sudden pain made him grit his teeth. He dropped the log on the sand in front of him, howling in pain. "Ow! Riku! That hurt!"