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kh_drabbleChallenge: [185] Heatwave
Title: the longest shadows ever cast
Wordcount: 531
Notes: Probably a lot more subtle than it has any right to be. Written in about ten minutes, though I don't think there are any typos.
The waves are white-capped and they seem to be trying to stretch themselves to the sun. Sora watches as Kairi shrieks when the water crashes over her head and Riku laughs, hair damp and sticking to the back of his neck.
It's hotter than it's ever been, or maybe he's just been away too long to remember; what if the trees had always sagged under the weight of the humid air, and what if everyone had always wilted into porch-swings with makeshift fans of novels and magazines? He wonders if would make the islands any less his home if he couldn't remember.
Kairi shuffles up to him, and he studies the sand sticking to her shins, follows the lines of her body until he's squinting up at her face, a bright red eclipse against the sun. "Aren't you going to swim?" she asks, in her knowing voice, the one that says she knows.
Sora shakes his head and smiles gently. "I don't think so. Not today."
Kairi shrugs and slumps down beside him, pulls her knees up to her chest. She looks so very small, which doesn't seem right, because in Sora's head red hair and bony limbs equal tall and pale (which doesn't seem right, because what has Kairi ever been if not soft and tan and familiar like a favorite t-shirt?).
Riku, still swallowed in the vastness of the ocean, shields his face with his hand to look for them. Sora waves him over and he obliges, hopping over the tiny waves that break close to the shore and pull the sand out from under you. "Gonna get a sunburn," he says softly, poking Sora's pink shoulder lightly.
"Nah," Sora says, and lets out a sigh, staring out at the reddening sky. "You could have kept swimming."
"It was getting cold anyway," Riku says, knocking sand off his arm. Kairi snorts, and almost certainly would have said something like then why are you sweating? but Riku drops a sand crab on her leg and Sora watches as she amuses herself by trying to keep it from skittering off.
"We should probably head back soon," Sora murmurs, closing his eyes and lying back with his arms crossed behind his head.
"No," Kairi corrects him, "Not just yet." She wriggles onto her back and yanks Riku's arm, gesturing for him to do the same. None of them really wants to go, anyway.
They watch as the sun paints the sea a hazy mess of oranges and pinks, a great red ring that looks like it could devour every world Sora's ever seen. He places his hand over his heart, and it feels like something gives way underneath his fingers (something like a sigh). He feels Kairi nod beside him, and Riku's steady breathing seems to echo like an earthquake. And these are the islands he remembers, with the tangibly hot air pressing down on him, with the ever-constant sting on his skin reminding him to wear sunscreen next time, with the somewhat unpleasant itch of sand always present.
It always feels more like home when the sun sets. Somewhere, far away and very, very close, a smile echoes against his ribcage.
Title: the longest shadows ever cast
Wordcount: 531
Notes: Probably a lot more subtle than it has any right to be. Written in about ten minutes, though I don't think there are any typos.
The waves are white-capped and they seem to be trying to stretch themselves to the sun. Sora watches as Kairi shrieks when the water crashes over her head and Riku laughs, hair damp and sticking to the back of his neck.
It's hotter than it's ever been, or maybe he's just been away too long to remember; what if the trees had always sagged under the weight of the humid air, and what if everyone had always wilted into porch-swings with makeshift fans of novels and magazines? He wonders if would make the islands any less his home if he couldn't remember.
Kairi shuffles up to him, and he studies the sand sticking to her shins, follows the lines of her body until he's squinting up at her face, a bright red eclipse against the sun. "Aren't you going to swim?" she asks, in her knowing voice, the one that says she knows.
Sora shakes his head and smiles gently. "I don't think so. Not today."
Kairi shrugs and slumps down beside him, pulls her knees up to her chest. She looks so very small, which doesn't seem right, because in Sora's head red hair and bony limbs equal tall and pale (which doesn't seem right, because what has Kairi ever been if not soft and tan and familiar like a favorite t-shirt?).
Riku, still swallowed in the vastness of the ocean, shields his face with his hand to look for them. Sora waves him over and he obliges, hopping over the tiny waves that break close to the shore and pull the sand out from under you. "Gonna get a sunburn," he says softly, poking Sora's pink shoulder lightly.
"Nah," Sora says, and lets out a sigh, staring out at the reddening sky. "You could have kept swimming."
"It was getting cold anyway," Riku says, knocking sand off his arm. Kairi snorts, and almost certainly would have said something like then why are you sweating? but Riku drops a sand crab on her leg and Sora watches as she amuses herself by trying to keep it from skittering off.
"We should probably head back soon," Sora murmurs, closing his eyes and lying back with his arms crossed behind his head.
"No," Kairi corrects him, "Not just yet." She wriggles onto her back and yanks Riku's arm, gesturing for him to do the same. None of them really wants to go, anyway.
They watch as the sun paints the sea a hazy mess of oranges and pinks, a great red ring that looks like it could devour every world Sora's ever seen. He places his hand over his heart, and it feels like something gives way underneath his fingers (something like a sigh). He feels Kairi nod beside him, and Riku's steady breathing seems to echo like an earthquake. And these are the islands he remembers, with the tangibly hot air pressing down on him, with the ever-constant sting on his skin reminding him to wear sunscreen next time, with the somewhat unpleasant itch of sand always present.
It always feels more like home when the sun sets. Somewhere, far away and very, very close, a smile echoes against his ribcage.
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Date: 2009-05-05 03:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-05 03:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-05 03:25 am (UTC)And the three of them in general! So cute. Sora seems very unaccustomed to the islands again, and it's really realistic for him to be so uncomfortable. :3 Very nice.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-05 03:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-05 05:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-05 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-05 02:14 pm (UTC)I love how Roxas is still there in everything Sora's thinking, and how there's a little bit of Namine in Kairi (I love how she knows, it's subtle, but really nice) and the sunset at the end. Very, very nice. :D
no subject
Date: 2009-05-05 10:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-05 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-05 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-05 10:29 pm (UTC)I feel like I should have read yours first. Mine fails epicly in comparison.
I love the interaction of the trio and all the other bits and pieces of this story.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-06 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-05 11:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-06 01:47 am (UTC)