Kids of Destiny Islands

"Snow doesn't taste like much of anything, actually," Kairi replied. "It's just ice that ends up really fluffy. And ice skating is when you have a big pond or lake freeze over so that you can skate on it."

"So sorta like water skiing only with ice?"

Kairi blinked. "Water skiing? Is that like... Skiing on a mountain?"

The mayor, seeing the three children were obviously confused, interjected, "Water skiing is a lot like mountain skiing, and ice skating is nothing like water skiing. It's more like roller blading. I skied and ice skated while I was on vacation to that island up north." He left and returned moments later with a snow globe to show them.

"Eh? Ah, sure?" Kairi wasn't so sure about meeting these other people, but she didn't want to look like a coward in front of these two boys. "But, um... I need to find a place to stay." Until I can find a way home, she added to herself.

"Alright, calm down. You comin' Kairi?"

Kairi nodded slowly. "All right. I suppose I'll come too." She hopped out of her chair and followed them. She just hoped that these people they were introducing her to were nice.

"It's nice to meet you too," Kairi said, wearing a big smile she wasn't sure she really felt. Though the island and its inhabitants seemed nice enough, one could never be sure. A man back home, the scientist Even, had seemed kind enough around Ienzo, but everyone knew he was mad as a hatter. There was no way to tell if that was the case here, too.

He had no idea why, but for some reason Riku felt bothered by the fact that Sora was spending more time with Kairi than he was. As he was getting into his boat and watching the conversation unfold, Wakka came up to him.

"Hey man, who's the new girl? Where'd she come from?"

"Oh, she's Kairi."
He paused.
"I... I think she's from another world..."
As he said this, Wakka rolled his eyes.

"No, it's all right. I'm... um... From really far away. And I thought it was really pretty. Especially the gardens. And um... I never really paid attention to the boys there."

Kairi's eyes widened. "Hey, don't fight guys, that's not--"

Selphie cut in with a wink. "Oh, those guys are always sparring." She shrugged. "Might as well just let them. I wouldn't want to get in the middle of it."

"That's 'cause you're chicken, Selphie," Tidus teased.

That did it. Selphie whipped out her jump rope. "Oh, it's on now."

"Hey Selphie, Tidus, you should probably head out to the other island before you start fighting. You don't want your parents to catch you, do you?"
As he said this, he got into his boat and began rowing.

"Ah! Wait up!" Kairi hopped into Sora's boat and looked to Sora to row. She'd have to get used to this mode of transportation soon, though she wasn't looking forward to rowing her own boat.

"There are older kids?" Kairi asked. She was surprised there were any more people on this island than the ones she'd already met. This place was so small... Of course, anything would be small compared to Radiant Garden.

Back there, Kairi hadn't seen much of the older kids. They were off training to be knights or apprenticing already. She'd met a girl wanting to be a ninja once, but she was only a year or two older than Kairi, and she'd met another girl who sold flowers with her mother, but those had only been brief introductions and she couldn't remember either of their names anymore. She hoped that they were okay.

"Thank you," Kairi said, taking Sora's hand. It was a good thing he was helping her out of the boat. If she fell in the water, her only clothing would be soaked.

"So what's around here?" she asked the two boys. "Are there any swing sets or seesaws?"

"We could also play tag or hide and seek. Or maybe a round of blitz ball."

"What's blitz ball?" Kairi asked. She'd never heard of such a game. Though she wasn't much into sports, she had to know what this strange game was. "Is it like baseball?"