Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Sweet & Salty ❯ Chapter 2

"I guess I never had a shot at that trophy," Yuffie said sadly. The two of them sat on top of one of the working cranes, surrounded by a vault of stars. The ice still sparkled in the moonlight, and the city quietly glowed in the soft illumination.

"Are you kidding?" Yuffie looked over at Sora, a little surprised. He grinned, "That was one of the most amazing fights I've ever had."

Yuffie shook her head, smiling bitterly. "That fight ended the minute you hit me. Doesn't seem that amazing to me."

"Well, we have different abilities. If fighting was only about strength, we'd just lift weights or something."

Yuffie giggled. "That would have made saving the universe easy against Maleficent."

Sora smiled at her, making her heart race. "That was definitely one of the greatest fights I've had. If you'd come at us like that in the real tournament, I don't think we'd have had a chance."

The teen girl shook her head again. "If you beat me by yourself, how could you have lost with the King's guys backing you up?"

"This time, I prepared for this fight. I had no idea you and Leon were even in that tournament before." Sora looked over at her, looking almost as if he was proud of her. "I had a whole strategy ready, and you made me pull out my ace in the hole in less than a minute." He meant Reflega, but more than that. He was saying he hadn't held anything back.

Blushing a little, Yuffie looked down at the city spread below them. "Your ace kind of trumped mine."

Sora leaned back and licked his sea-salt ice cream. Earlier, Yuffie had swiped them from Scrooge's freezer vault; Sora, of course, had insisted on leaving some munny in their place. "How's your stomach?" he asked.

Yuffie winced as she pulled the cloth-wrapped ice - another souvenir from the ice cream freezer - away, taking a quick look. "I'm going to be sporting a major bruise pretty soon. I might have to stop wearing my tank tops for a while."

Sora cried out in mock horror. "Noo!" The embarrassed girl hid her smile by licking her own sweet and salty popsicle. The Keyblade master got up to his feet, wincing very slightly.

Looking up at him with worry, Yuffie asked, "What about your arm?" She had actually hit his arm twice; once, when he'd deflected only two of her three shuriken, and again when she'd thought he'd escaped with his spinning dodge.

"Throbs like mad." Sora held his popsicle down to her; though not sure why, Yuffie took it in her other hand, looking up at him. "Curaga!" Sora called out, splashing the two of them with green light. The spell filled her with a soothing feeling, almost as if she'd had a long soak in a hot bath. Yuffie closed her eyes and put her head back, sighing softly with pleasure.

Opening her eyes again, the girl saw that Sora was beaming at her. Yuffie smiled back. When he plopped back down next to her, Sora gently patted her belly button before taking back his ice cream. "All better, now."

Blushing yet again, Yuffie looked away; she pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. The two of them silently looked up at the stars for several long moments.

"Sora..?" Yuffie started, and then stopped.

The Keyblade master turned toward her with a questioning look.

"Do you think you could teach me some magic?" That wasn't what she had started to say.

He looked surprised, but appeared to be thinking about it. "I…could give it a try."

"What do you mean by that?" Yuffie growled at him. "I think if you can master it like you have, then I could probably give Merlin a run for his money!"

Sora laughed. "I meant that I can try teaching it. I have no doubt that you'd be a fast learner." He smirked at her, and then looked up at the stars once more. His smile had a way of taming her when she got angry, and she knew it. Yuffie smiled back, even though he wasn't looking.

Not for the first time, Yuffie wondered what Sora thought of her. He was being really friendly right now, but…he was friendly to pretty much everybody. She idly plucked at one of the laces of her calf-high boots, wondering if he even thought she was pretty.

"Hey Sora," she said softly, looking up at the stars instead of at him. "When we first met…did I really look like Kairi?" She couldn't see his expression when she asked, and was a little afraid to look.

Sora took a moment before answering. "You did, at least until I fully woke up. You had similar haircuts, and your faces are a little alike. You both have really cute smiles." Embarrassed, the girl felt her cheeks start to redden. After another brief pause, Sora went on, "Your eyes are different, though, and not just because hers are blue and yours are grey."

This time Yuffie did look over to him, but it was now Sora who was looking up at the stars. "You know Kairi is a Princess of Heart, right? There's no darkness in her heart…she's pure kindness, gentleness. Kairi is…pure sweetness."

Feeling her hopes dying away, Yuffie looked down toward the silent city below. A Princess of Heart, pure sweetness…how could she compete with that? "But…" she started to say.

At the same time, Sora also said, "But…." He looked over at her, as if wanting to hear what she was going to say. Yuffie shook her head and waved for him to go on. Sora hesitated, then looked away, and lifted up his popsicle. He took a long lick before finally going on. "But, sometimes salt would be nice, too."

Yuffie smiled, not saying anything, although she wanted to ask whether he thought she was salty or sweet…or both? He had said they were different, and right now that was enough. She leaned back, letting her legs dangle over the edge again. "You three must be a perfect trio. Kairi's all sweetness, Riku's practically all salt. You've got a lot of both." She turned to him and grinned with her eyes closed.

"We sure were," Sora said with a small smile. His smile shifted to a sad one, "Everyone else is…growing up, though. Well, I guess Riku's always been that way. Now Kairi…." He trailed off.

Yuffie wasn't sure what he meant, just yet, but she thought she could cheer him up. She poked his shoulder hard, "What? Can't keep your eyes at face level anymore?"

Sora snorted in surprise, eyes going wide while his face went red, "Wha..? Yuffie!" He couldn't resist any longer and burst out laughing, Yuffie with him.

Sora cleared his throat as their laughter died down. He poked her back, saying, "That is not what I meant, although she certainly has grown…that way, too. I guess that's a part of it, too, though. Kairi's…sexier now, but I liked her better when she was cute, you know?" She didn't, but she nodded anyway. "I don't just mean her body. She's growing more serious, more reserved."

Sora turned his head and looked into her eyes. "It's like that's a part of growing up. You forget what it's like to just have fun, to just say what you're thinking, to just live in the moment."

Thinking of the blond-haired intruder from earlier, Yuffie nodded. "I know what you mean. Geez, look at Cloud! Could you even imagine him smiling, much less telling you what's on his mind?"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about! I don't want to ever be like that," Sora said, leaning back on his hands and staring skyward again. "Kairi once told me, 'don't ever change.' I guess I should have said it back."

He looked back over at her. "When I grow up, I hope I can be like you…I always want to remember what it's like to be a kid."

"Hey!" Yuffie playfully punched him in the shoulder. "I'm only like two years older than you, you know!"

Sora rubbed his shoulder, protesting, "That not what I…oh, never mind."

They licked at their ice cream, both lost in thought. Yuffie tossed her popsicle stick behind them when she finished it.

At last, Yuffie spoke up. "In spite of what you've been saying, you still really like her, don't you?" She couldn't bring herself to say the word love. "After everything you went through to save her, how could you not?"

Sora nodded, without looking at her. "I do…but you know," he said, turning to look her in the eyes, "I would've gone to the world's end to save you, too."

Yuffie blushed and looked down at her feet, which were knocking together. What did he really mean by that? Did he think she was special? Or was he saying that Kairi wasn't that special? This is Sora, Yuffie thought sadly, he would've gone to save anyone.

Sora spoke up again, hesitantly. "Well, I guess that's not a good way to put it. I mean…it doesn't matter who it was, I would've tried to save them anyway. But…." He trailed off, seemingly out of words. He picked up his sea-salt ice cream again and started sucking on what was left, as if to keep him from saying more.

He said "but!" she thought, beaming. That said enough.

Watching him quietly for a few moments, Yuffie realized that the way he was eating his ice cream - sucking it in and out of his mouth - was really starting to turn her on, especially after what he'd just said. She didn't want to look away. She had to, though…as hard as she was getting, there was no way he could miss it if she stayed - and she absolutely could not have that, not after she just found out that she might be more than just a casual friend.

That she might be more than a close friend, even.

Without really thinking about it, Yuffie leaned over toward Sora and kissed him softly on the cheek.

Sora's eyes went wide and he dropped his popsicle stick. While he turned to look at her, she looked down at her feet and both of their faces turned bright red. The girl was nervously wondering if she had made a mistake. His silence seemed to stretch on into eternity. Why wouldn't he say something?

"I just felt like doing that," she said softly, hoping he'd respond. Each second that passed made her more certain she'd made a mistake. "That's all," she added quietly. When she couldn't take the silence any longer, Yuffie looked over at him. He was looking away from her, but she could see that he was grinning, one hand holding his cheek.

Relieved, Yuffie beamed, and then slipped down off of the crane without another word. When she reached the bottom, Yuffie looked back up, unable to tell whether or not he was still there. Before turning for home, she saw the popsicle stick he had dropped lying on the ground.

Remembering how he'd been eating it was turning her on all over again. Softly rubbing the front of her shorts, Yuffie started running for home. After all that had happened, she needed so badly to have a little privacy, and this time she would be sure her door was locked.