When Darkness Turns to Light

Stirrings

Recappy From the Last Chappy: He averted his eyes with a mixed look of shame-that she figured it out so quickly-and remorse-just a little, for kidnapping her first kiss. Moreover, it sounded rather foolish when spoken aloud. ". . . Sorry."

She scratched the back of her head. "I'm not sentimental about my first kiss," she admitted-though in the back of her mind she wondered if it was due to her "half-heart" and added, "but . . . I don't need a second one any time soon. . . . Okay?" She smiled.

"Mm."

This isn't going into Jiminy's journal.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Stirrings

"Yeah, right. You're making that up, Sora," I sneered, crossing my arms. The heat from the campfire warmed my skin, and the light gave it an orange tint. The four of us sat around the fire on the beach of the Main Island in front of the fence separating the sands from the residences. It was dark, so the lamps were lit.

Sora's cheeks puffed up and he scooted to the edge of the log he sat on. He was bringing his hands to his chest, trying to convince me. "No, it's true, Riku! Everybody says so! And you'll only see her at sunset."

Sharing a log with him and wearing his jacket draped over her shoulders-I'd tease him about that later-Kairi chuckled. The marshmallow at the end of the long metal fork she held hovered over the flames. "Alright, what are you two fighting over now?"

It was almost three years ago, not long after Naruto was added to our group. He had just shown up on the beach one day, just like Kairi, but with one difference: he still had all his memories of his old world. He was sitting on the log across from Sora and Kairi, holding the bag of marshmallows in one hand and the fork in the other.

"You heard the story, right Kairi? About the ghost girl that appears at sunset?" Sora asked, turning to her.

I leaned back. "This is the first time I've heard about it."

Naruto's face paled, but he acted cool. "Ghost?" He gave a knuckleheaded grin and scratched the back of his head; he almost would've had us fooled, but the fire's light made the nervous sweat at his temple glisten. "Ghosts don't exist! . . . Right?"

When she regarded him cluelessly, he gave a minuscule sigh, closed his eyes, and faced the fire. "Well, Selphie told me about it." The flickering flame cast shadows on his face, setting a grim tone for his tale as he opened his eyes. For some reason, he spoke in a whisper.

"Okay. You know that kid, the one they say left the islands for good one day? He used to think of these islands like a prison, surrounded by water. He wanted to get out of here, really badly. But there was one thing that made him stay for just awhile: a girl.

"They were young and in love, maybe a little older than us-they might've barely turned adults. They spent every day together. But when he asked her to come with him . . . she said no."

No? Why in the world would someone turn down the chance to leave? Psh, this story was fake. I knew it as soon as he said that. Had to be. . . . I shifted on the log.

"She wanted to stay. She loved peaceful island life, and wanted to settle-she really wanted to with him." Like he felt some sympathy for the lovers-sap that he is-he looked at the fire with sad eyes. "He left the islands one day without saying goodbye.

"She was distraught. She didn't want to believe he was gone for good, her heart wouldn't give up hope. Every sunset she was at the water's edge, crying, just waiting for him . . . but he never came back. Then one day the tide came in too high, and a strong current swept her out to open sea. She drowned."