I Swear On the Stars Ch.1

       Every day after classes finished, Kairi and I would make the journey to Destiny Island. We had no legitimate reason for doing so. Riku wasn’t coming back, and we both knew it. At the very least, he would return to his home before he returned to the secluded island where the three of us spent so much time together. But that didn’t stop either one of us from hoping.
Riku wasn’t exactly our only concern. Kairi said that she remembered another boy. A boy that also used to play with us on the beach when we were children. A boy who wasn’t Riku.
Those thoughts of hers were very strange to me. I couldn’t picture another boy. Yet at the same time, I knew something was missing just as well as Kairi did. I just hadn’t put my finger on what it was yet. In my attempts to find out, I agreed to return to Destiny Island each day with Kairi. I only went for a little while, but each time I could feel Kairi’s mystery boy drawing closer.
“Hey, wait up, you two!” Selphie yelled. Kairi and I had hurried out of school as quickly as we could. Home promised a change of clothes and our usual trip to the island soon after. We never bothered to stick around and socialize after class. Not any more, anyway.
Selphie started jogging up the dirt path toward us, her light brown hair blowing in the slight breeze. Selphie used to tag along with us to the island as well, but she hadn’t done so in a while. Kairi thinks it’s because she feels closer to a grown up now since we’ve started high school, and that she considers the beach childish. I think it’s because Selphie believes that the two of us are crazy. To each her own.
“Are you on your way to the beach?” Selphie pouted, a little breathless from trying to catch up.
“I was really hoping the three of us could go to the mall today. They got a new accessory shop added in last week and I’m in desperate need of a new barrette.”
Kairi gave her a pretty smile. “No can do, Sel. Yale’ and I are going to go down to the beach as soon as we get changed.”
Selphie’s pleading pout morphed into a glare. “You two always go to the beach after school! Come out and have fun for once!”
“The beach is fun.” Kairi laughed. “Besides, we have loads of homework. Don’t we Yale’?”
I nodded solemnly. Just as eager to get down to the beach as I knew Kairi was.
Selphie rolled her eyes in defeat, flicking her school satchel over her shoulder. “Fine. But the two of you are totally missing out.” Selphie started walking back in the direction of the mall. “And I’m also going to expect the answers to the chemistry homework!” she called back to us before taking off into a run to meet Tidus and Wakka who were waiting for her at the school gate.
Kairi laughed loudly and placed her hands on her hips before turning to face me once again. “On to the beach?”
I nodded. “Of course.”
****
My house was decently close to Kairi’s, so after changing outfits, meeting back up was never a major issue. Usually one could just wait outside the other’s house if they finished first. Though Kairi’s and my daily routines were so well laid out, that usually we finished dressing at about the same time. However, today ended up turning out a bit differently.
I pulled on one of my favorite non-school outfits and switched my satchel for a small backpack, as per usual. Then, my eyes fell upon an old picture as I was grabbing my house keys off my desk to transfer to my backpack. It was a picture from the old days. When Riku used to play on Destiny Islands with us, and we were still just children.  I hadn’t looked at the photo closely in such a long time, that I had to take a second to appreciate it. The three of us were smiling and laughing at the camera. It took me a moment to realize that there was something funny about it. Kairi was on the end and I was standing next to her, but where Riku should really have been standing there was a giant gap. A gap large enough to fit a whole other person. So, why hadn’t Riku taken up that space? I definitely didn’t remember it being like that before. I remembered the space being filled. But there was no one there.
I shook my head a few times before shoving the keys and photo into my backpack. Maybe Kairi would remember a reason for the large space. I swung my backpack over my shoulder and took the stairs two at a time, knowing that I was running a bit later than usual.
Kairi was waiting patiently outside, her slender figure leaning against the white gate in front of my house.
“Sorry, did you wait long?” I asked loudly, locking the door behind me.
She turned around slowly and smiled. “Nope! But hurry up, okay?  We always get to the beach at the same time every day, you know. What if we miss something?”
I nodded and jogged down the dirt drive toward her. “We won’t. Don’t worry.”
The walk to the rowboats seemed longer and more tiring than normal. Everything about today was just odd. I was so eager to get to the island that I was all but jumping up and down with anticipation. I didn’t understand my excitement today, but I could feel something. Something in the air told me that something was coming. I knew it. I just didn’t know what it was yet.
Kairi and I made small talk as we rowed our boats side by side to the island. She was worried about some boy in her chemistry class that kept looking at her funny. I listened well enough and nodded at all the right points, but I just couldn’t get into it.
Boys. None of them around here were really much of anything anyway. I wanted more than what Destiny Islands had to offer. I saw no point in falling in love with anyone here. Kairi on the other hand had an entirely different problem. I don’t think she really appreciated my lack of interest in the opposite sex. Boy talk was usually reserved for Selphie.
She quieted down once we reached the island and I did too. Both of us felt so much nostalgia here. It was beautiful. Everything from the white sandy beach to the old tree house felt like home to us. It was a lot more difficult to leave than it was to get there.
I breathed in the salty sea air and ran my fingers through the soft sand as I plopped down next to Kairi. We would come each day and just sit. Sit on the sand and watch the sun sink below the horizon. It doesn’t sound like much fun, but to us it was the best activity possible.
“Yale’?” Kairi finally broke the long silence.
“Yeah?”
“You said you feel like you’re missing something, right?” she turned to look at me. “That other boy that I see…you feel like he’s what you’re missing too?”
I frowned. “I think so. Nothing seems clear. Like I’m reaching for something, but I just find myself grasping at air.” I laughed quietly to myself. “I’ve tried so hard to figure out what it is that’s missing. I just can’t seem to figure it out.”
She nodded quietly. “I feel the same. Sometimes when I’m fast asleep, I can see him in my dreams reaching out to me. By the time I wake up, all I can remember is a fading outline of his shape. Sometimes his voice as well. I know he’s real.” Her fist dug into sand. “I just wish I knew who he was.”
My eyes widened slightly and I pulled by backpack closer, beginning to dig through its contents for the photo. “I found something interesting when I was getting ready to go.” I murmured. “I think you should see it. It might help.”
I pulled the photograph out of the bag and held it up so Kairi could see it too. Like me, it took her a moment for the problem to register in her mind.
“There’s a gap,” she whispered. “Where Riku should really be…there’s a gap.”
I nodded. “I noticed that too. It’s funny because I never noticed that there was a gap there before.”
“Someone else was in this picture,” she took it out of my hand. “I just know it.”
Kairi stopped talking after that. She pulled her knees in and stared desperately at the photo, as if begging it to give her the answers she wanted.
Finally, she stood up and brushed the sand off the back of her pink skirt. “I’m going to head home,” she said quietly. “Um…can I take this picture with me?”
“Yeah, sure,” I replied. “I’m going to stay here for a bit if that’s all right with you. Just to watch the sun set.”
Kairi smiled softly. I knew her thoughts were a million miles away. “Sure, go ahead.” She carefully placed the picture into the small black pouch at her waist and headed back to the boats, waving goodbye as she went.
I sighed, turning to face the horizon once more, and watching Kairi’s boat as she rowed back home. I really hoped she was going to be okay. With that thought, I laid back on the sand and put my arms behind my head, staring up at the clear blue sky; my eyes slowly closing. At that moment, I felt a million miles away too.
****
Someone shook me roughly. “Hey, wake up.”
I shivered. It was cold and I could feel the sand beneath my freezing limbs.
The person shook me again. “Hey, girl. Wake up.”
It took me that long to remember where I was and what I had been doing. I should have been completely alone, but I wasn’t. My green eyes opened wide and I shot up, my forehead colliding with something hard.
“Ow, god dammit!” I cursed, my hand reaching up to rub the tender bump. I could hear similar profanities coming from behind me, helping me remember my current situation. That was not Kairi behind me.
I whirled around to face the strange man. I was surprised to see a long mane of spiky red hair. A young man, dressed in a long black coat that was decorated with silver zippers and chains. Not a usual choice of apparel for most around here. We were surrounded by beaches and palm trees, after all. He was rubbing his chin, all cursing had ceased as he looked curiously back at me.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” I glared at him. The intruder. This was my place. This was our place. Mine and Kairi’s and Riku’s. He didn’t belong here.
“So many questions,” he grimaced. “So little time. The name’s Axel. Got it memorized?”