lightwithin | 9th Light - [Audio/Common]

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Current Location: Deck 9 - near the lifeboats

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9th Light - [Audio/Common]

Has-

[Kairi clears her throat and starts again.]

Has anyone seen Toboe or Astrid...? They didn't come camping with us and I haven't seen them since. Heh-

[That laugh is so very forced.]

Are you guys still here?

Coud? That goes for you too.

[Mimmi died and others are disappearing. Kairi has been putting off asking all day, trying to stay upbeat. But she's finally caved.]

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[... Now that you mention it...]

Iii haven't seen Toboe in a while...

His door's closed too.

[His door never seemed to be closed.]

Oh...

[...]

I'm sorry, um, he's probably gone.

[Let's turn that frown upside-down!]

Hi, I'm Lily!

Yeah...

[Dead.

Oh is that optimism? Kairi could use some of that.]

Who knows; maybe he'll be back some day.

Heh. Hi Lily, I'm Kairi.

[Why does she know that name...? Oh. That's why.]

You're the Lily Jinx yelled at.

Yeah, he said he was sorry, though. So everything's okay. How long have you been here?

Hmm... About five months now, I think.

Heh, I spent a lot of time in my room while Jennifer was around. I'm not a very good fighter.

[Or not a fighter at all.]

Yeah, Jennifer was really scary. That's the first time something like that happened before, so I don't think it'll happen again. Well, I mean, the first time it happened for so long. Have you been exploring yet? 'Cause the boat is really cool.

Oh. That's good.

[It sounds lame, but she really means it. Lily would know how often things like this happen, right?]

I've explored some places: the forest and the temple. I haven't been much further down than the caves though.

[Except for the Ghadd festival. But she's not going to mention that.]

I think I might be exploring the maze soon, heh. Have you ever been in there?

A few times, yeah. But the maze is sooo confusing. You can find some cool stuff in the rooms, but you can also get lost.

[Note: The maze is NOT CONFUSING AT ALL. Seriously, check the map. It's ungodly easy.]

Hmmm... I guess I'll need some rope then.

Or a trails of marshmallows.

[And she laughs. Because seriously, marshmallows? Although the ship never does seem to run out of them. Ever.]

If we do end up going, would you like to come with us?

Sure!

[Hey, man, marshmallows are a good idea!]

I saw in some movie this guy used string. So maybe we can use string?

[Wasn't Toboe the little boy who didn't understand the concept of coming back from the dead? Vincent remembers his last--and kind of ONLY--conversation with the wolf quite vividly.]

I'm not acquainted with Astrid, but I haven't heard Toboe's voice on the network in some time.

Oh...

Um. Thanks anyway--

What was your name?

Huh? Kairi?

Oh hey! I haven't seen you for awhile!

Yeah, I'm still here. Bored as hell, but I'm still here.

[She is ridiculously relieved. One for three. It translates almost straight away into being ridiculously happy and annoyed over worrying at the same time. When she speaks, her tone's teasing.]

Well what have you been doing? Playing hide and seek?

We could always go exploring. There's a maze on deck fourteen. I'm sure some people here would like to see it.

[Like Riku, for example. They could make it an expedition!

Yes, she is quite possibly just looking for a distraction.]

[Cou's been in low enough spirits lately that picking up on the tone of her voice actually raises his mood a few notches. Opting to play with her like this, he chuckles a little as he flicks the communicator on to reply.]

Well yeah. You're pretty bad at finding me.

[He pauses to think about the whole maze deal.]

Ya know, that doesn't sound too bad! Gimme a time and place -we'll meet up down there and see what kinda stuff's in the maze!

[Kairi giggles.]

Hehe, sorry. I was giving you a five minute head start, and then someone changed the clocks.

Okay! I'll let you know.

I haven't seen Toboe either...

Well, if you do...

[She can't even pretend to be optimistic about it. Boo.]

Thanks.

I'll tell you.

[He's upset too, sob.]

I can't smell Toboe.

Oh.

Could you always smell him? Even when he was very far away?

[Clutching at straws over here. Or being deliberately naive.]

I... h-haven't seen them either.

A-Are you... okay?

Yeah. I'm okay. Heh.

[Liar.]

Uh... w-where... where are you?

By the pool.

[Or - more accurately - half in it. Swimming makes everything better.]

On deck three.

Y--You mind if I c-come up?

Okay.

[She says okay and yet it sounds strangely like "yes please."]

Heh. It's a public deck.

[He doesn't need to ask.]

O-Okay! I'll, uh, be there s-soon.

[Kairi is out of the pool and has found herself a towel and a shirt by the time she spots Xanth.]

Hello.

[It's said with a smile that is a little strained. She's been talking to Cou and Lily in the meantime and they've managed to distract her somewhat. But she's still glad of a familiar face.]

So are you and Riku finished doing whatever you were doing?

[Did they think she wouldn't notice? She's taken it for male-bonding; a good thing.]

O--oh, uh, yeah! Yeah, we-- we, uh, cleared that up p--pretty quickly.

He, uh, did... mention s-something I should a-ask you, though... d-do you, uh, want t-- to go sit s-somewhere?

[Cleared that up? Kairi doesn't know of she likes the sound of that. Riku can be a little... Intense. Maybe she's just misunderstanding.]

Sure, okay. There's a restaurant down this way, past the forest.

[It's self service, but that doesn't matter.]

A--Alright! Sound--sounds good.

You-- you want anything? I could, uh, get it f--for you.

[Kairi joins Xanth at the table and pauses just before sitting. He's already sat down. There's nothing she really wants that's worth getting herself so she won't ask him to get up again just for her.

Besides, she can't help but think he's stalling again.]

Heh, no. That's okay. I'm fine, unless you want something.

[Wait, stalling again? The last time they'd been somewhere quiet like this, he'd given her a necklace. And more than ever, she is glad to have it, now that people she knows are disappearing. But...

All she really wants right now wis to smile, laugh, do something silly. But that doesn't seem very likely. She can't help feeling just a little nervous.]

What did you want to talk about?

O-Oh, uh, alright!

...uh, w-well, it-- it's nothing big o-or anything! Riku, uh, he-- he told me to ask you a--about, uh... the... legend of th-- the paopu fruit, I th-think he called it?

Oh... Heh.

[And Kairi actually laughs. Riku never seemed to take the paopu legend seriously, not to her anyway. She's not sure if he's making fun of her or making fun of Xanth. But he's probably making fun of someone, bringing it up like that.]

That legend. Paopu are rare and hard to get back home. There's a legend that says if two people share one, they'll be part of each others' lives forever.

I don't know if it's true or not. I didn't think Riku believed in it.

That... that's w-weird.

Have-- have you e-ever seen one?

Oh sure!

[She doesn't notice Xanth's frown. For a moment, she's too caught up in memories.]

Heh, we used to sit in a paopu tree and talk about escaping to other worlds. It finally flowered, right before the storm.

D-Did you... ever e-eat one?

[Kairi giggles.]

You mean did I ever share one with Riku?

[Even she is not that oblivious. And though her cheeks are tinted so-slightly pink, she still laughs it off.]

No.

[Had she ever thought about it? Sure. Selphie had made sure of that. But if there was ever any proof that Kairi didn't need a destiny-bonding fruit, it was when Riku showed up here.]

You don't need a paopu to be with the people you care about.

[She smiles as she looks up, but then she catches sight of Xanth's expression. Why is he looking at her like that?

Too late she realizes what she just said. But it's not a lie; she does care about Riku. She also cares about Xanth. But if he's asking her about this-...

She should explain. She needs to explain. That nervous feeling is back and she doesn't like it. She opens her mouth, closes it and then starts again.]

No matter how far away they are.

[That was not an explanation. Why couldn't she just tell the story, explain it from the beginning? She had been able to tell it to Riku. But then Riku should have already known.

There had been a boy who had carried her heart. He'd sacrificed his own to restore it to her.

But with Toboe and Astrid gone, Kairi can't bring herself talk about how Sora had been here.

And how he'd died.

Her hair falls across her face as she looks back down at the table. It's still damp with pool water.]

Maybe I should go change.

Y--you might-- want to. It--I-- uh, d-don't want to-- get c-cold and, uh, g-get sick, a...after all...

Yeah...

[It would be next to impossible for her to catch a cold here. The weather is so warm. But it's as good an excuse as any.

Not that she should be making excuses.

Kairi stands and pulls her towel tighter around her shoulders like a shawl. She stares out through the window for a moment before looking back at Xanth, her expression resolute.]

Let's talk later, okay?

Right! Y-Yeah, yeah, s--sure.

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9th Light - [Audio/Common]

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