Sorry for the lack of updates on All the Roads We Have to Walk and Never the Twain. One week at university and I'm already saddled with a ton of work.

Tomoyo is the name I’ve give Sora’s mother. Much easier that way ;)

Every epic tale has a humble beginning. Sora’s about to meet a girl from another world who’ll change his life forever.

Beginnings

Sora stood by his Mom’s side as she knocked on the Mayor’s front door. Tomoyo had told her son that he was going to make a new friend today and Sora was happy enough. After all, you could never have enough friends.

Last night the Mayor’s wife, Chihara, had stopped by their house and told them about the little girl who had been found on the beach after the meteor storm, just like Riku said.

”Would you and Sora come over tomorrow Tomoyo?” She had asked. “Maybe the girl will cheer up a little if she has a new friend. To be honest I’m running out of ideas. She seems like such a sweet little thing but I don’t know how to bring her out of her shock. We ask her where she comes from and how she got here but she seems to have amnesia. Poor little thing. I do feel for her.”

“You don’t know her name yet?” Tomoyo had asked.

“No. We’ve asked but she hasn’t told us yet. She doesn’t say much at all.”

“We’ll be over tomorrow.”

And now that’s where they were, standing in the Mayor’s house in the new girl’s room. It was brightly lit thanks to the sunshine pouring in from outside. But the lonely figure dressed on the bed didn’t seem to notice. She sat with her arms wrapped around her as if chilled. Sora looked at her without bothering to hide his curiosity. She was small and pale with short red hair that hung over her face. She was dressed in a white vest and a pink skirt, the clothes brand new. Carefully the girl looked at Sora and Tomoyo but hurriedly hid her tear-washed blue eyes behind the hair. Sora felt a nudge from behind and looked up at his mother. She gave him a look that said ‘well then?’

As Tomoyo returned to the girl’s guardians Sora approached the girl. “Um, heya. My name’s Sora. I heard you just got here.” No response. Never mind. Sora was always talking to toys that never spoke back. On he went. “Have you met my friend Riku yet? He’s my best friend. You should meet him.”

The girl seemed to shrink even more at the sound of more people coming to see her.

Sora frowned. He knew girls were weird ‘cause of Selphie but this one was even weirder! Okay… better try something else. After a brief moment an idea hit him. “So…do you have a name? If you don’t I could give you one. I’m good at names too ‘cause I always name the fish I see in the sea.” He grinned when he noticed he’d caught her attention. “Hm… I wonder what it should be.” He began pacing as he considered. “You don’t look like a Bob.” He saw her lips twitch. Was she smiling? “Ah! How about Gertrude? Or Mavis maybe? Perhaps Olive?” The girl was definitely smiling now. “Do you like any?” She shook her head. “No? Okay then how does Ethel sound?” The girl giggled quietly. “You like Ethel? See, I told you I was good at names. You shall be Ethel.” He waved at her. “Hiya Ethel!”

The girl mumbled something but Sora didn’t quite catch it. She looked at him shyly but didn’t break the gaze. She spoke again. “Kairi,” she said quietly.

“Kairi? I like that. Better than any of those other names.” He smiled at her and she returned the expression tentatively. “It’s nice to meet you!”

“Thank you.”

Sora sat next to her. “Wanna come outside with me? You gotta be bored in here without any toys. Besides, it’s a really nice day and I can get some Munny from Mom so we can go for ice lollies!”

Kairi looked up at him now, her eyes wide with curiosity. “What are ice lollies?” She asked, her voice a little louder than before.

He looked at her as if she’d grown an extra head. “You don’t know what an ice lolly is? But that’s not fair!” He grabbed her arm and tugged her off the bed. “You gotta come with me and have some. They’re the best! We’ll get a blue lolly each. There’s no way you won’t like ‘em! Let’s go!”

Sora led Kairi out her room, her hand held in his. They passed the adults, all of whom stopped their hushed discussion as the boy and girl went by.

“Sora?”

The boy turned to face the Mayor and his wife who were taking care of Kairi. He gave the man a bright smile. “We’re going for ice lollies ‘cause Kairi doesn’t know what they’re like.” That settled he looked at Tomoyo. “Mom, can I have some Munny?”

She passed him a few coins and Sora breezed out, a still timid Kairi yanked along with him. Full of things to say about Destiny Islands and all the things they could do he didn’t bother to listen to the adults as he and Kairi headed down to the local shop.

“Kairi. What a lovely name,” the Mayor commented.

“Will you be taking her in permanently?” Tomoyo asked.

“Definitely,” he replied. “Chihara and I decided the moment we saw her we’d do anything for her.”

“And it seems she already has a friend in Sora,” Chihara commented happily.

Meanwhile the two children walked to the shop, Sora telling Kairi all kinds of things about the islands as they went. She listened eagerly and had even tucked her hair behind her ears so she could see better, her blue eyes taking in her new surroundings.

The shop was right by the beach. For Kairi it was a totally new experience and she gazed in wonder at all the stocked shelves. Sora guided her to the lollies. Kairi looked at the selection in amazement. Every colour in the rainbow seemed to be there in a lolly shape.

“They’re all nice but blue’s the best,” Sora said as he picked two and went to buy them.

The shop owner looked at Kairi, his brown eyes friendly. “And who are you? Are you going to help Sora eat all my ice creams?”

Kairi blushed and looked down so Sora spoke up. “Kairi’s my new friend and we’re gonna eat them all!” He took her hand and began leading her out the shop. “We’ll be back for more later Mr Maaru.”

“I’m sure you will. Have fun you two!”

Waving to Mr Maaru, Sora led Kairi down to the beach. They sat on the sand and he showed her how to get the ice lolly out its wrapping. Unsure how to hold it Kairi watched as Sora held the lolly by the wooden stick poking out the bottom. Following his expert lead, Kairi licked the ice carefully. Her face lit up with delight and she attacked the lolly with more gusto.

“You like it?” Sora asked.

She nodded, unable to speak because her mouth was full of ice. The lolly was gone in a flash. “It’s really tasty!” She seemed more alive now, her eyes happy rather than full of tears.

“I can’t believe you’ve never had ice cream before. Where are you from?”

The girl swallowed and her smile faltered. “I don’t remember.”

“Nothing at all?”

She looked upset. “No. I don’t know where I came from or where my mommy and daddy are. I don’t think I’ve ever been here before and now I’m all alone.” And then she was crying, hugging her knees to her chest.

“Ah! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He uncertainly patted her on the back. Unused to girls (and especially crying girls) Sora hurriedly thought of something to say. “I think it’s cool that you’re from somewhere else. The islands are kinda small so everyone knows each other…” He stopped. If no one knew Kairi she must’ve come from really far away. “Hey, are you from another world?”

The response was mumbled but it sounded like a ‘dunno.’

Sora decided she was. “That’s so cool! You’re from another world!” Sora was practically bouncing with excitement. “Hey maybe we can go there. Like, if you came from there then we gotta be able to go back right?”

Kairi peeked over her knees. “You think so?”

“Sure! We’ll talk to Riku ‘cause he always thinks of stuff. But don’t tell him I told you that. He’s always teasing me about being slow and stuff.” Sora grinned at her. “We’ll go find your world for sure.”

Kairi let her knees slide until her legs were straight. “I like it here. It’s warm. I like the sea too. It’s pretty.” She turned to him, her smile radiant. “And I definitely like ice lollies!”

“Let’s go get more,” Sora jumped to his feet. “Then we can go find Riku and make him think of a way to get to your world.”

“Do you really think we can go?” Kairi asked as she followed Sora back to the shop.

“Definitely. You came from somewhere so we gotta be able to go there.” Arms behind his head Sora looked to the sky. “And someday we’ll go there too. We’ll go see loads of other worlds.”

“Mine first?”

He smiled at her. “Yeah of course.” He held out his hand. “And we’ll go together.”