What Are Friends For? (Sora)

"Blizzard!"

As the spells name rang clear, a chunk of ice sprang from the teens keyblade, directed at one of the three orbs of light layed out in front of her. Though the spell did make contact and in fact even rattled the sphere of energy it still stood tall. Two out of five, and she was at her limit magically. It was true she hadn't been training under Master Yen Sid long but... somehow she felt like she should be doing better than this. Sora and Riku were out saving the world on a daily basis and she HIGHLY doubt they exhausted their reserves so quickly. Still, Yen Sid had made it very clear she was not to overdue herself in the magic department. Bad things happen when you do that

So, rather than try her luck she instead decided to take a short break at the tower steps, as she walked away the spheres of course dissipated themselves. As she sat at the entrance to her mentor's tower she coudn't help but think back to the trio's time building the raft, oh so long ago. At that time all they could think of was seeing the outside world.... they had come so far. It was funny how things changed.

Kairi was by no means dissatisfied. She was certain that she would catch up to her friends in no time! Then who would do the protecting? Her~ This time around she would DEFENTLY best all five spheres in one ago! They wearn't monsters after all, they were like punching bags for magic! She could do this


......well maybe after a bit more rest, gotta recharge the reserves right?

Sora was mostly self-taught in the ways of the keyblade, so anything along the lines of formal learning flew past his head. In fact, it was probably because he was self-taught that he was at his level today. Still - Sora knew that Kairi would fare much better under Master Yen Sid's strict training. Kairi was the kind of person who kept her friends from slacking off (Sora) in school.

The young hero was sauntering down the stairs for his due training with Axel, when he spotted the second-newest keyblader resting on the steps. She looked totally out of it today. Training hard as usual, huh?

"Hey, Kairi!" Sora joined her and just like that, the session with he and Axel was lost in the aether (at least for now). "You been tackling those orb-things again? How'd you do this time around? Wanna show me?"

The puppy gig didn't really work with Kairi that often, but, hey, it was worth a try.

TAG: Kairi

NOTES: N/A

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Sora was not known for his patience. The whole reason Kairi thought she could manage an unnoticed rest was because, at least at the time her training was the only set going on outside. It wasn't that she didn't WANT to see Sora-far from it. Just... where he lacked in the thinking side of education enthusiasm he more than made up for in the physical aspects. Kairi wasn't lazy of course, but she also wasn't a forty plus arena challenging guardian ether. Far as she could tell her talents were more mental they they were physical.

"Two... maybe two and a half out of five"

Following her words came a sigh. By the time Riku and Sora came down she had wanted more progress. Progress such as well.... all the spheres of light. Where as the best she could present at the moment was half at best. The worst part? She wasn't back at hundred percent yet. Sora didn't have to know that yet though! Luckily she had an easy escape. The ever fun teasing option! She did enjoy playing around with Sora. It was.... rare she had the same opportunity with Riku.

"Why? Trying to skip out on your training Sora?"

She replied teasingly, chuckling herself at the end. It was a possibility anyway. Sora was more a self taught fighter than anything else if she thought about it. The thought of being told more 'refined' ways of fighting.... PROBALY didn't mix well. On the other hand, the other side of that training wad the ex-kidnapper Axel so look coin flip on that one.

"Cause ya know, if you start being a lazy bum again... you might watch me do the rescuing, Or worse-graduate to 'true' hero first!"

She followed her comment with a playful wink. Not a day went by that she didn't enjoy playing with Sora about his 'Junior' hero status on one of the world's.

"Whoa there!" Sora put on the saddest face there was. "That is so mean, Kairi!"

But imagining Kairi all heroic-like like wasn't all that hard. While he didn't want one of his best friends getting in the way of danger, it was still good to know that, even if he wouldn't be there, at least they could take care of themselves (until he got there). But that was as far as TCL went and rivalry began.

"And as if I'll slack off!" Sora added, fists perched proudly at his sides. "I gotta be the one to protect you and Riku. And if that ends up making me the true hero, then I might go easy with the 'I told you so'. Maybe."

But he was digressing. So, two-and-a-half out of five, huh? That was impressionable, but Kairi was capable of so much more. The boy thought for a good measure on what he could do to help Kairi out a little.

"Hmm...The way I got a hang of my magic was using it on real live targets..." Obviously Kairi didn't have that opportunity in master Yen Sid's tower, and frankly there was no way Sora was going to waltz in with her on tow into a Traverse Town alleyway...But the practice was still good, both physically and instinctively...better than stationary orbs could--oh.

He slapped his palm with his fist. "I've got it! Kairi, follow me!"

With little wait, he dashed outside and summoned his Keyblade to direct it at an empty bit in space. As the golden beam began to concentrate in the shape of a keyhole, Sora turned to Kairi with a smile whose width could put the chesire cat out of a job.

"Just trust me on this, okay?"

--

Practically a blink afterwards, they'd end up in the dim-lit streets of Traverse Town.

"Remember the last time you were here, Kairi? You just woke up at the time." The memories connected to that were pretty bad, actually, except the one of Kairi waking up at all. How could Sora forget that?

"You gave me a good luck charm that time. Remember where you gave it to me?"

TAG: Kairi

NOTES: N/A

♥ thanks tia!

this time, i'll protect you!

T

hough she knew he was returning her own playfulness with his words, they still caused her to fluster a bit, a half serious looking appearing on her face as she crossed arms.

"But it's also true Sora, if class is anything to go by!"

His antics quickly melted away what little seriousness she had put forth however, as she coudn't but chuckle a bit at his determination. That was Soda for you. Silliest, most playful protector someone could ever have but, with his level of dedication to his friends? He was also one of the best-in her opinion anyway. She admired her friends strength, and not just the more violent aspects of 'strength' they were strong-both in heart and power. She was proud of them for that.

It wasn't long before the lovable goofball went from 'goof' to seemingly thinking rather hard, his mention of live targets made frown a bit. Not because of what was mean't, it was defently good training-but it also brought back memories of why he had gone through it in the first place. They coudn't protect the islands. Kairi coudn't protect her friends. Riku hadn't told her the details of what happened after that, but through Sora she knew of the danger he went through trying to find her, even if he tried to brush it off with the more laughable parts of the journey. That was one of the reasons she was here! She didn't have any desire to be a burden ever again.

More to the point, he dashed from the entrance calling for her to follow. Thinking he PROBALY just wanted to show off his moves this resulted in a simple sigh on her part. Never the less teen proceeded to follow her friend in stride.

The next moments were quick. Sora summoned... a golden keyhole? As a response to his words she gave a light sigh but nodded none the less as the light engulfed them both.

After her eyes adjusted she could she the spot they stood on was no longer the tower grounds but Traverse Town. She remembered this place, made her wonder how Yuffie and the gang were doing. Sora's words caused her to frown, if only for a moment. It reminded her of the pain her friends went through, but it also remunder her of the promise they made, something she coudn't help but smile-more so when he mentioned her good luck charm. Though she did wonder why he brought it up. As playful as he was Sora woudn't have brought her here for the sole purpose of that memory..... right?

"Of course I do! It was in the tunnel by the waterway, it was so similar to our spot but... why do you bring it up?"

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At Kairi's confirmation of the memory, Sora nodded.

"Merlin's house is right on top of that waterway. I practiced a lot of my magic there! See, Merlin does this...thing with his magic that makes the furniture move around. How's that for live targets?"

Without another beat, ever-so-proud Keywielder beckoned his friend to head over to the old wizard's house. After a few exchanges about Kairi's situation and the practice she needed, the magic master willingly granted them the opportunity to use his free room for target practice - as long as they didn't use any drastic magics like firaga or thundaga, of course (here's looking at you, Sora).

Sora stepped inside first, then turned fully to Kairi with his on-running grin of accomplishment.

"So? What do you think? You wanna give it a try?"

TAG: Kairi

NOTES: N/A

♥ thanks tia!

this time, i'll protect you!

K

airi was intriged by her friends statement. The wizard could make his furniture move around? That was incredible! Of course she knew Yen Sid was capable of a similar feat as well. Though she had only ever seen him animate brooms in her short time there. Besides if it had helped Sora learn magic something she assumed took a great deal of study to master, then it had to be good training right? She was sure Yen Sid woudn't her being gone a while if that was the case. Not like apprentices just ran out on him on a daily basis after all right?
It was with great eagerness she followed behind her friend. Taking considerable joy in having to jump along the pathway of moving rocks leading to the wizard's home. When they approached the man himself she let Sora do the talking. It was one of his mentors afterall. In greeting she did give a bow and introduce herself before they took the lift up to the upper floor. Here Kairi could could see the various furniture laid out before them. Diffrent objects, sizes and shapes. Soda was right, these things move... would be good training for her reflexes! The smile on her face was probably more than enough to answer his question, but she still did none the less-with no eagerness than she felt.

"Of course! Have to put that study to use somehow"

Holding a hand out, she summoned Destiny's Embrace to her hand in a flash of light. With a nod to her friend she began to watch to the different objects closely, waiting for movement

Determined to beat more than the orbs

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With a determined nod, the boy hopped back and brandished his own Keyblade.

"Okay, let's go!"

In the otherwise lifeless room, the chairs began bouncing and the tables began twirling. They were still very much furniture, but Merlin's magic was the ultimate convincing illusion. Even after nearly two years of having never practiced in this room, Sora himself felt very elated - and not just for being here, but because of who he was here with.

He took the initiative and took aim at a nearby armchair. As if sensing the danger posed, the furniture piece attempted to flee the line of (literal) fire. It was quick, but Sora's spell was faster.

"See? Like that!" Sora was saying, a gloved hand proudly resting on his hip. Feeling so proud of himself for all of ten seconds, the Keyblader didn't have the attention to spare to the armchair's brethren conspiring behind him. (Merlin must have sense the climb in Sora's ego ever since he came here, and rigged the magic animating his furniture accordingly.)

"What the - Whoa!"

A chair rammed him from behind, not hard enough to hurt him, but quick enough to sweep him off his feet and toss him across the room. The appliances bounced around him in a circle, as if taunting him.

Sora had the decency to look a little sheepish. "Heh. I, uh...meant to do that." He defended. "B-But um, yeah, remember - just follow your gut for this one! And don't think about how to act, just do!"

TAG: Kairi



NOTES: N/A

♥ thanks tia!

this time, i'll protect you!

K

airi coudn't help but chuckle at the furniture's antics. That was headstrong Sora for you. Kairi simply rolled her eyes playfully in response his excuse, but did her best to heed his advice none the less.

The apprentice keybearer watched the furniture A's it moved in pace around the room.

Don't think, do, don't think do

She repeated the words over and over in her head (exact opposite if what she was supposed to be doing) and turned on heelectronic towards the closest piece of furniture firing the spell she was most familer with at it, Blizzard

It was Kairi's turn to be embarrassed. The icy spell hit it's target, that much was true. The problem was how much force Kairi put into the spell itself. Needless to say Sora was about to have even more furniture racing his way. When the impact of wood came down Kairi flinched before running towards her friend. She proceeded to rub the back of her head in embarrassment. She was still getting to the use of magic, part of that was the balance involved in casting a spell. Practice WAS slowly remedying the problem of course-but she still had her moments.

"Ummm how was that?"

The words were mean't more as a joke than anything else. She was sure Sora was fine, he'd been through much worse than rouge furniture after all-but the concern was there anyway.

"Guess I'm not used to..."

A smug couch decided to use Kairi's distraction to repeat there earlier antics with Sora. When she fell to the ground next to him she coudn't help but laugh at the irony. However she had an idea sneakily she turned to her friend whispering in his ear.

"Let's get them!"

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Kairi kind of went all out there with her blizzard attack. Sora would have expressed his surprise less curtly hadn't the piece of appliance come spinning for him. Sora managed to roll out of the way just as muffled wood collided with the wall, resulting in a crash that was more than likely to be heard downstairs.

“This exercise is definitely helping your aim,” he observed, “but we've gotta do something about that focus.”

He totally didn't giggle it out when Kairi tasted the result of her own carelessness for a change. At least she made a quick recovery and bound back to Sora. To her whispered words, Sora grinned immensely, eyes shining with just the right amount of mischief to foreshadow an even harder time for the two.

“You know it!”

The Keyblade brimmed with another fiery spell when Sora sprang back to his feet. He was aiming at the clump of chairs that had given both he and Kairi the trouble they deserved. “Let’s combine our efforts,” he declared, “in the name of revenge! I mean focus!”

He watched both his and and Kairi’s respective magics spiral toward the furniture, hitting them in a burst of stars. Instead of recoiling this time, the chairs all but vanished into thin air. Sora wasn’t done being the best teacher yet, however; he had a friend to make a mage out of and also mock mercilessly!

The rest of the training session mostly involved Sora directing Kairi in a mostly intuitive way. He watched her get better - way better than when he had started out. Her aim needed a little more work but there would be plenty more training sessions to come that would help with that. At least the targets she did hit, she hit with a lot of promise. Yen Sid would be proud.

When the craziness died down, Sora fell flat in the middle of the room, exhaustion weighing down his limbs. He was pooped, but also satisfied. Kairi wasn't the only one who learned a few things today. “That was great,” he slurred. “I don’t remember the last time we had this much fun. Our training sessions should always be like this!”

Come to think of it, it’s been awhile since things were this fun. So busy in trying to save the worlds that Sora couldn’t count one day where he’d done something for himself. It was probably one of the keyblade wielder's inconveniences. Soon, it would be Kairi - and even Axel’s - inconvenience.

Sora thought on that. “Kairi?" he began decisively. "How do you feel about...y'know. All this?”

TAG: Kairi

NOTES: N/A

♥ thanks tia!

this time, i'll protect you!

T

heir plan went off perfectly! The furniture had defently gotten what was coming to it! The apprentice keyblader enjoyed the rest of their training session in much the same way. Sora had been right, she did feel like this training was helping her magical focus-even with thunder and fire! Of course she was aware that as base elemental spells this was pretty low on the magic skill tree. But it was still far better than being able to do nothing! Throughout the training with her close friend Kairi was visibly happy, her expressions full of the utmost joy about this situation. Because the better she got, the more use she would be when the boys inevitably got in over their head. Once the session was over both were exhausted, Kairi sitting and resting her arms at her side in a not at all sleepish manner.

Kairi couldn't agree more with her spikey haired friends statement. Being at Yen Sids was by no means boring, she was learning a lot from him in fact and she assumed any training he might have her do with Axel would have it's own charm as well! But... their was just a certain feeling she got from training with Sora and, by extension her friends-That sense of togetherness from the islands, she felt it in every minute.

"Defently!"

She responded in equal parts happiness to the keybearer. Though... his next words wearn't exactly a norm for the energetic weilder or, to be more exact the tone itself. It wasn't rude or anything, but it surprised her none the less. Sora almost seemed serious and... dare she say thoughtful? Before answering the young mage had to take a moment to look playfully look around herself, as if checking if in fact anything was going wrong-a serious Sora usually meant SOMETHING bad was going on after all. After doing so she coudn't help but laugh lightly. That was Sora the concerned all right. But she wanted this, she knew the life would dangerous... but she wanted to help her friends, she was tired of being the burden that put them in danger.

"Well, you and Riku are strong right? But your not invincible... I mean what if a heartless crept up while you were taking a nap Sora"

Joking aside, she did recognise that her friend was serious in his question, and to this she offered a gentle smile.

"You and Riku shoudn't have to do everything yourselves you know, I want to help, I want to be there for you two... you know? So what I think... I think I'm happy to be given that opportunity I'm happy that this time... you guys don't HAVE to leave me behind... you know?"

Happy to be with her friends, and happy they were a trinity again.

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What Kairi said at last was enough to make Sora raise his head from the floor, first to gaze in surprise, then to melt into a grin in gratitude and pride at the one of the trio. "Kairi...!" He'd been thinking of Kairi's path as one that was forced upon her and that she was coping, but if she was this happy to be fighting by her friend's side, then Sora's doubts were no more as of today.

Sitting up fully, the brunet gave a confident nod. "Right! We'll always look out for eachother, Kairi. I'm glad you're here with us too. And Riku and I will be here for your training benefit!"

Heaving back to his feet, the osomewhat recovered keyblade wielder resummoned his keyblade to let it rest over a shoulder. In the background, the furniture blazed to life once again.

"Okay, what do you say we go for another round?"

TAG: Kairi

NOTES: I think that's a wrap!

♥ thanks tia!