promises_to_keep | Dance While You Can III

She had lost all sense of time. Had it been twenty minutes or two hours? Five hours? Eight?

In all, the boys had been missing for three and a half hours, but every time she glanced at her phone, it felt as though it should have been so much later than it really was. She supposed the fact that the sun had gone down so early didn't help. Three and a half hours... just over 200 minutes... That wasn’t so long, was it? Was that long enough to get frostbite? Long enough for hypothermia to set in? Long enough to freeze to death?

She looked down at the screen again.

"You keep looking at that device like it has all the answers."

Tenana's voice piped up beside her, and Kairi jumped, then turned and gave the old woman a worried frown. "I can't help it," she said, her voice thin, and Tenana's weathered face crinkled in empathy.

"You're only making it worse, you know?"

"I know," Kairi said, shaking her head and sliding the phone back into her pocket. "I know there's probably no signal under the mountain, but I just keep hoping there'll be a message from them or something. A missed call, anything, just so I know they're still alive."

Tenana tossed her thick white braid back over her shoulder and nudged at the fire with a long stick, watching embers float up and away from the flames into the cold, dark air.

"You must have faith, my dear," the old woman said. "I know the not knowing is terrible, but if you fear the worst, you'll only make the time pass even more slowly."

Kairi stared into the flames, and despite the warmth of the fire, she still felt chilled to her core. It hadn't taken her very long to find the village at the foot of the mountain, tucked away within the outcropping of the great stones. She had known subtlety was supposed to be their first priority, to maintain the order of the worlds, but in the moment, she hadn't cared. She had urgently rushed up to the first person she had seen--a young man with skin the color of copper and hair black as pitch--who looked as baffled as she was frantic. After being directed to Tenana's hut, she had somehow managed to explain the situation without betraying her origins, but the old woman had known as soon as she'd laid eyes on her.

Thankfully, Tenana was the world's leader, and had quickly assured the alarmed villagers that there was nothing to worry about, that Kairi was just a visitor from another tribe, from far over the mountains, which accounted for her pale skin, red hair, and strange clothes. Kairi found herself surprised how often explanations like that seemed to work. Sora had told her once that someone had asked him what was 'wrong with' Goofy on one of the worlds they were visiting, and Sora had snapped back that he simply 'had a skin condition' and that such a question was 'really rude', and the man had immediately backed off. Kairi wasn't certain what she thought about that, honestly, but she guessed it was better than having the question pressed further, given the real answer. She wondered absently if 'normal' people even saw Donald and Goofy as they truly were, or if the Keyblade's magic made them appear human to outsiders--otherwise, a talking dog and duck would likely have turned a lot more heads...

No, no, stay focused, she couldn't wonder about how weird Sora's inhuman friends might have looked right now.

"People have made it out of there before, though, right?" she asked then, turning back to the old woman.

Tenana chuckled faintly. "Of course," she said. "My people mapped these mountain corridors many cycles ago."

"And you're certain this is the only exit?" she asked, and worried at her lower lip. Who knew how many tunnels there were beneath the mountain? What if the boys had taken a wrong turn and wound up at a dead end? What if they couldn't find their way back out? What if they went down a tunnel that took them to an exit miles away? Could Tenana and her people truly know for certain that this was the only exit?

With a soft sigh, Tenana gave Kairi a long-suffering smile. "Child, we have lived and breathed this land for generations," she said. "We have hunted and foraged every corner of the forests, we have fished and swum every current of the rivers." She gestured toward the cave with her staff. "And yes, we have skulked through the darkness every path beneath this mountain," she said. "I told you, if they do not return by the time the moon reaches the zenith, I will have one of my trackers go searching, but for now, trust your friends." She wagged a thin bit of kindling at her. "From where you said your friend fell, it's too soon to worry that they haven't turned up yet. The paths beneath the stone are winding, carved by ancient rivers; they do not take the straightest course, so it takes a while to walk in their wake."

Folding her arms over her chest, Kairi hunkered down into her coat and scowled. "I don't have as much patience as the rivers," she grumbled. This time Tenana laughed loudly, brightly.

"Few of us do," she said, and then reached into the soft leather bag slung over her shoulder. "Here," she said, offering Kairi what appeared to be a piece of a shoe. She took it carefully in her gloved hands and peered at it a moment, then gave Tenana a puzzled look.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's food, child," Tenana said, tearing into another with her teeth. "You haven't eaten anything the whole time you've been with me, you must be famished," she said. "This is smoked dried caribou, the last bit from the batch I made a few weeks ago. I nearly had to wrestle my nephew for it, too."

"Caribou?" Kairi sniffed at the strip of jerky, then nibbled at it experimentally. It was much more tender than she'd expected, from the look of it, and a bit salty, with a rich, earthy flavor. "Oh, it's delicious!" she said, and then made a bit of a face. "What... is a caribou?"

Before she could say that it sounded like some sort of ghost creature from an old computer game she'd played once, the gentle crunch of boots on snow caught her attention, and she snapped her head up. Her heart leapt into her throat as two shadowed figures sharpened against the obscurity of the night, golden firelight illuminating the bright orange sleeves of Lea's jacket, the crimson of his hair, and Riku shambling gingerly alongside him. Jumping to her feet, she closed the distance between them faster than she realized she could move, words failing her as she launching herself toward Riku with a choked sort of sob.

The noise caught in her throat and she made a startled, strangled sound when she was yanked backward sharply then, staggering in the snow.

"Easy there, princess," Lea chided softly, releasing her hood. "He's a little too fragile for a tackle-hug right now."

Riku rolled his eyes. "I'm not broken," he complained, and then met Kairi's eye sheepishly. "Uh... hi, we're... we're back, though."

Kairi found herself rooted in place, her hands clasped at her collarbone and tears streaming, unbidden, down her cheeks. She tore her gaze from Riku and stared down at the snow at their feet a moment before squeezing her eyes closed. "I didn't know if I'd ever see you again," she said, her voice thick with the effort not to cry, the tension and fear and grief she'd been holding back for the past several hours just bleeding out of her spine, and she sank to her knees in the snow.

"Ah-- Kairi!" Riku hissed in pain as he dropped into the snow in front of her and took her shoulders. "Kairi, are you--!?"

It took every ounce of self restraint she had, but Kairi managed to stop herself from just throwing her arms around Riku's neck, remembering Lea's words of caution, wondering just how far Riku had fallen, and how badly he'd been hurt in the process. She did, however, lean forward to rest her forehead against his chest, sniffling softly as her tears fell into the snow.

"I'm just glad you came back to me," she said softly. Riku was still for a moment, then carefully wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and after a moment, the tears stopped, and she lifted her head. His eyes flickered green and gold in the firelight, and she suddenly wanted more than anything in the world to just lean up and kiss him fiercely.

This too she refrained from doing, and instead just exhaled audibly and shifted to get back to her feet.

"Are you hurt?" she asked then, offering her hand to help him up. He grimaced as he took it, bracing his hand on one thigh and visibly putting most of his weight on that side as he rose.

"He'll live," Lea said then, clapping Kairi on the shoulder. "Cracked his head, busted his leg, but he's about as healed up as he's gonna get beyond just taking it easy for a couple days." He pointed meaningfully at Riku. "Which you are going to do, mister."

"Yes, yes, fine, fine," Riku said, shaking his head with a helpless chuckle. "I don't have the energy to argue about it, honestly."

"And you?" Kairi asked, looking up at Lea, who lifted his eyebrows in silent inquiry. "Did you crack or bust anything?"

Lea shook his head. "Nah," he said, waving one hand. "My spelunking adventure went without incident."

"Good." Kairi turned and threw her arms around Lea's midsection and squeezed for all she was worth. If Riku was too injured for hugs, then Lea would have to accept one for both of them. She noticed that he didn't go quite as rigid as he usually did when assaulted with unexpected affection, but she supposed it could have also been because he was wearing several more layers of clothing than normal. "I was worried absolutely sick for more than three hours and I'd say you are gonna make it up to me, but..." She mashed her face into his chest and held her breath for a moment, then stepped back and smiled brightly, wiping her tearstained cheeks with the palms of her gloves. "Well, you both came back safe, so... that's enough."

Lea took a moment to recover from the hug. His reactions always reminded Kairi a little of when you had to force-restart an electronic device: nothing was actually wrong or broken, but he just needed a minute to pick up where things had left off.

"I-I told you, didn't I?" he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets in an attempt to look casual. "I always bring my friends back, no matter what."

"That's what we keep you around for," Riku said with a grin, and Kairi couldn't help but notice that something seemed... different.

There was still a lot she was learning about Lea, a lot that she couldn't quite predict yet. Kairi was difficult to surprise once she got to know people, but Lea still managed half the time, if only because there was so much of him he refused to allow to be known. But she knew Riku, knew him better than he knew himself, and something was different. The air between the two of them was different, and though she couldn't put her finger on how, it was clear something had happened. Riku had always had a sarcastic streak, and though it was perhaps not as finely honed as Lea's, he made sure to never allow it to fall into disuse. When Riku was with those he cared the most for, though, the tone of his banter shifted almost imperceptibly; surely only a truly trained ear could have heard the difference. Riku and Lea had grown quite close over the time they'd all spent together, but if Lea had entered that crevasse with his Riku-friend meter at 92%, they had both emerged with a full bar, and it was written all over their posture, their expressions, and the awkward way they kept not quite meeting one another's eyes. It was like they were embarrassed they'd maxed out their friendship points or something, and Kairi suddenly desperately wanted to know what had transpired beneath the mountain.

The sound of Tenana clearing her throat gently snapped Kairi out of her musing, and she quickly turned and gestured to the old woman.

"Oh! Riku, Lea, this is Tenana," she said, making a flourishing gesture. "She's in charge of this world, so she came with me to wait for you here." She waved a hand at Riku. "I already told her what was going on, why we were here," she said quickly, not wanting Riku to stress himself out trying to scramble to put a diplomatic greeting together. She gnawed on her lower lip briefly and gave him a slightly hangdog look. "I know I probably should have waited," she said, shaking her head, "but when I made my way to the village, it just all kinda... spilled out."

"It's okay, Kairi," Lea said. "You did good; you took care of the mission even though things were, uh... kinda tense."

"'Kinda'," Riku echoed with a snort of laughter, then winced and put a hand against the back of his head. Tenana seemed to notice this as well, because she quickly moved back toward the fire to douse it with an armful of snow before gesturing toward the path into the trees with her staff. With the fire extinguished, Kairi hadn't expected the night to be so bright, but light of the waning gibbous moon illuminated the snow all around them and cast an ethereal blue glow across everything.

"Come on," Tenana said. "We can talk more once we get everyone someplace warm. After the day the three of you have had, you must be exhausted."

The boys had no complaints about this plan, and Kairi hung back to wait for Riku to make his way slowly forward, reaching for his hand when he came up alongside her. He hesitated only an instant, then took her hand and squeezed it, before glancing over his shoulder and, to Kairi's surprise, reaching for Lea's. Riku was one of the most fiercely loyal and loving people she had ever known, but he was rarely outwardly affectionate, and almost never initiated. Oh, yes, something had most definitely happened.

"We have a lot to talk about," Riku said, leaning over slightly as Lea moved up to flank him on the other side, making it clear that he wasn't referring to a conversation with Tenana about their mission. Kairi grinned.

Nailed it.

She squeezed his hand in return and gave a nod, and the three of them followed slowly after Tenana into the trees.