"Hey, Tidus! Have you seen Sora?" Mai asked.
"Actually, he was by your guys' raft!" Mai smiled and nodded at this. She was about to run when he stopped her, "Why are you searching for Sora?"
"Riku said he needed him for something." She simply said.
"Okay! See ya, Mai!" Tidus ran off, "I'm gonna play Blitz Ball with Wakka!"
"Have fun!" She run in the direction the raft was herself.
She went through a cave, which is a shortcut as she found out, and she heard her friends.
"Do wanna race to see who gets to name the raft?" Riku asked and she peeked around the corner. He was talking to Sora.
"Yeah, If I win, I'm captain!" Sora grinned, "If you win-"
"I get to share a paopu with Kairi." She rolled her eyes, boys. The part that got her was, "Deal? The winner gets to winner with Kairi!"
Her jaw dropped, 'With Kairi?'
She walked from the cave and pretended she didn't hear any of it. She stretched to the sky with a smile. Riku and Sora saw her and Riku looked at Sora, who was caught staring.
She turned to them with a smile, "Am I in the way of the race?"
"No, you can be the person who can count down if you wanna!" Riku said and she frowned at this; he was acting weirder than Sora.
Sora felt guilty and stepped back, "I-I'm sorry, I'm going have to back out of the race..."
"Why? Are you scared of losing?" Riku teased and the redhead growled.
"Don't listen to him, Sora. What's wrong?"
He blushed and turned around, "I gotta go find mushrooms."
"Sora-" she was about to ask what's wrong when he ran off. She sighed then glared at Riku, "I got him."
"Why are you mad at me?" He asked and she just huffed and ran after Sora.
She ran through the islands without seeing Sora. She sighed as she thought he might be in the secret place. As she entered, she heard sniffing as if someone was crying.
"Sora? Are you okay?" The sand sounded like it was shifting.
"Oh, uh... Mai, what are you doing here?" She saw him quickly wipe his face.
"What's up?"
He grinned his regular grinned, "Aw, it's nothing."
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, body language saying that she didn't believe him. He nervously laughed.
"Come on, Sora. You obviously suck at lying." She frowned, "You know you can tell me anything. Is Riku being too hard on you with the teasing?"
Sora shook his head and looked at the cave drawings, "Nah, just wanted to come here. No telling when we can see these drawings again."
She smiled, looking to the one of Kairi and Sora. When they were younger, she watched the two drawing each other and running out of the cave. Her smile disappeared. Those two are just friends... right?
"Yeah..." She breathed in and out, "I'm going to find more supplies-"
"Wait!" Sora stopped her and she turned around back to him. "About yesterday, you were worried about all of us getting separated, right?"
"I just don't want my friends to be harmed..." She smiled, "That's all!"
"It's something deeper... isn't it?" Sora asked she looked away from his gaze. "Come on, tell me!"
"I..." She shook her head and looked in his eyes, "It's only for me to know only!"
"If it's this serious, you need to-"
"I don't need to do anything!" She yelled at him. "Sora, it's personal!"
He blinked and backed away, "Oh... I..."
She covered her mouth and realized what she did. She lowered her hands to her sides, "Sora..."
Unknown to them there was a man in a brown robe, "This world has been connected."
Both of them jumped and froze. The redhead sensed something strange yet familiar from this guy. What was it?
She gathered her courage and glared, "Who are you?"
"Tied to the darkness..." He said, disregarding her question, "Soon to be completely eclipsed."
"Hey! I asked you a question!" She growled, scare turning into impatience.
"Whoever you are, stop freaking us out like this!" He thought a second. No one lives here and he hasn't seen him in the other island, "Wh- where did you come from?"
Mai, watching this, was growing curious herself.
"You do not know what lies behind the door."
"The... door?" She looked at the door and gasped in realization, "Wait, that would mean..."
"You're from another world!" Sora finished her sentence.
"There is so very much to learn. You two understand so little." He stepped closer to Mai and she gulped, stepping back. Sora got in front of her.
"Oh, yeah? Well, you'll see!" He stretched his arms out in a protective manner. Mai peek over his shoulder. "We're gonna learn what's out there!"
He chuckled, amused by how protective Sora was. "A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can only understand nothing."
Shivers went up and down both of their spines. She looked the ground and began thinking. The door must have opened for him to be here... right?
Looked at the door and walked to it. She took a deep breath and put a hand on it. She closed her eyes and sensed something was behind it. It couldn't be a human but something told her it was powerful. She blinked. Sora, who was watching her, turned back to the mysterious figure.
"He's gone!" Sora exclaimed and she turned around.
He was indeed gone.
She gulped, "Like he was never there to begin with... Did we imagine it?"
"I'm wondering so..." Sora said, scratching his head. After a few moments of silence, she hugged herself and rubbed her shoulders.
'This is weird. What darkness? Is it going to hurt my friends?' she asked herself. Sora noticed that she was conflicted with the stranger.
"Hey, it's okay!" Sora smiled, giving her a hug, "I won't let anyone hurt you."
"H-huh?" She blushed the same color of her hair. Luckily, he didn't see. She then smiled, "P-promise?"
"Of course! We're friends, right?" He put his hands behind his head.
She giggled, "Right! Friends til the end!"
"Oh!" He got an idea. He picked up two chalk rocks and gave one to her. "I haven't improve on drawing but do you wanna draw each other?"
She looked at the rock then at him, "Nah, let's write out our names. I suck at drawing, too."
"Okay!" He nodded in agreement and the two went to a blank spot in the cave walls. They wrote their names as planned and wrote 'Best Friends' above it. They stepped back and Mai thought it was missing something. She smiled and wrote 'Til the end'
Best friends
Sora
Mai
Til the end
"There, now it's complete!" She turned to him and Sora put a hand on her face, making her look at him.
"Can you promise me something?" He asked and she nodded. "Can you visit our home if we find yours?"
"Oh, I already have a home!" He tilted his head like a curious child and she giggled, "It's right here with you, Riku, and Kairi. There's no way I'm staying at my old world!"
"But what about your siblings?" He asked, looking at her bracelet. "They might want you to stay!"
She shook her head, "Doesn't matter! I'm staying here and that's a promise. I've been here for the most part of my life so I don't mind, anyway."
He smiled as tears ran down his face. She mistook them as sad tears and wiped them. After, she hugged him tight.
"I promise I'll get you to your home safely." He blushed at how she reacted the way she did when wiped his tears. He hugged back, "To protect you, in general!"
***
AN The guy was creepy. Lucky Mai, she had Sora with her all the way. Comment and tell me what you think about this story so far!