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She watched them all from the shoreline.
Sora, Riku, Kairi.
Ventus, Aqua, Terra.
Roxas, Xion, Lea, even Isa.
And. Naminé.
Naminé looked down at her feet, watched the waves lapping at her toes. Hiding her feet, as though they weren’t even there. Would anyone notice if she wasn’t there?
Even thinking such a thing made her feel terrible. The others had shown her nothing but kindness, always trying to include her in their games. But their goodwill didn’t erase the reality that she was an outsider. They all had their friends, their special someones. All she had were some old crayon sketches of friendships that had only ever existed in falsified memories that she’d been coerced into creating.
Wincing, Naminé turned away from the beach and walked parallel to the shore. Well, mostly parallel. If she dipped a bit further into the water, they wouldn’t notice—
“Oh.” She bumped into a tree trunk. She craned her neck upward, shielded her eyes from the sun…and laughed hollowly. The paopu fruit dangled far above her head. Taunting her.
“Need some help?”
Naminé jolted back with a quiet gasp, but Kairi kept staring at her with that huge smile. “Oh, no, I…”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got it! I’ve been doing this for years.” And just like that, Kairi shimmied up the tree trunk, hefting herself higher and higher on the balls of her feet with strength Naminé could only dream of having. Another reminder that despite being born from Kairi, Naminé would never compare to the real thing.
Kairi snatched one of the fruits and dropped to the ground, landing in a perfectly balanced squat. “Here!” She offered the fruit to Naminé.
Naminé stared at the fruit she’d never asked for. “Thank you,” she said softly, taking it anyway. She turned it over in her hands and forced back the memory of the lucky charm she never really gave to Sora.
“Who’re you gonna share it with?”
“Huh?”
“Surely you know the legend,” Kairi said, still smiling. “If two people share a paopu fruit, they’ll be in each other’s lives forever.”
Naminé knew. She also knew how many lives were already entwined with hers, without her even having a say in it.
“Roxas would probably split one with you,” Kairi went on. “Or Xion! She’d be so excited—”
“No,” Naminé said, surprised by the confidence of her own voice. If the legend was true, she didn’t want Kairi to choose her destiny for her.
“Then who do you pick?”
Who do I pick? Naminé looked at everyone on the beach, all wonderful and special in their own ways. Kairi waited patiently as always.
Naminé laughed softly. She knew who she was going to pick.
She took her own bite first, letting the sweet juices roll down her chin. Then she offered it to Kairi.
“Me?” Kairi sounded genuinely surprised. “Why’re you sharing it with me?”
“Because I want to.” Regardless of whether it was the best choice, it was her choice.
“Well, as long as you’re sure,” Kairi said. She grabbed the paopu and took a bite.
They sat on the curve of the trunk, passing it back and forth. Two people, with two separate lives, choosing to be connected.
Naminé smiled.