“Sora!” Kairi screamed as she watched the brown-haired boy fade away into the darkness. His hands were cupped around his mouth and she could tell he was shouting something. Unfortunately, his voice had faded completely before his body had begun disappearing. The red-haired girl couldn’t be sure, but she could swear he was shouting, “I love you!” Tears filled her eyes as she stood on the beach of Destiny Islands. “I love you, too, Sora!” she managed to choke out as his body faded completely.
She folded her hands and hung her head, mourning the loss of a love she would never know. Suddenly a small spark fell between her hands. Kairi looked up in surprise to find that tiny stars were falling from the sky to rebuild the features of Destiny Islands. Trees appeared from nowhere. The ocean grew to its full expanse in a few seconds. She felt overwhelmed by joy. Amazed, she watched as the small shack sprung up, followed by the waterfall and the tree house. She then noticed a small dark corner appear, overgrown with roots.
Kairi recognized this dark corner to be the secret cave she’d found with Riku and Sora. She ran to the cave, hoping the boys would be hiding there, waiting for her. Crawling through the overgrown roots, she found her hopes to be futile. However, she didn’t cry. Instead, she looked around. The walls of the cave were covered with childish drawings, each one familiar. Her blue eyes finally came to rest on a particular drawing. It depicted a girl giving the star-shaped paupu fruit to a boy. She recognized the girl as herself and the boy as Sora. But there was something different now. The boy was giving a paupu to the girl as well. Kairi imagined Sora squatting in front of the wall and scratching the new piece of the picture with a rock. He looked back over his shoulder, flashed her a smile, and disappeared. The redheaded girl sank to her knees. She lightly touched the wall and allowed tears to spill over…
Kairi visited the cave every day for a couple of weeks. With each day, she cried less, until the tears no longer came. Then school started. She began only going to the cave on Saturdays. School kept her busy during the week, and she found new friends. Her visits became more infrequent until one day they stopped all together. Her memories of Sora began to fade, one by one. Soon, he only rarely appeared in her dreams, silently shouting something she couldn’t make out. His face began to slowly fade until finally he became a nameless enigma that only visited her mind when she stood on the beach staring into the ocean.
