KH- Fast Food Madness!

Kairi suddenly felt like she'd gotten punched in the gut, that feeling in her stomach worse now. She was afraid of that. She stared at him for a second with softened eyes, and then turned her eyes to the bottom of the Christmas tree. Now she knew that Happiness was what she wanted for Christmas.

 

"I'm sorry," Sora sighed very softly. "I'm so sorry." Sora shut his eyes halfway and bit his lip as he stared at his feet.

 

Kairi's eyes widened slightly and she looked at him, shaking her head. "No, no. Don't apologize."

 

Sora shook his head softly. "No, I am sorry," he said softly, opening up his eyes again.

 

"Why?" Kairi asked softly. Her eyes softened as she looked at Sora. For some reason her brain wasn't registering his apology.

 

Sora shook his head and spoke very softly. "I'm sorry for everything. Things shouldn't be like this." He bit his lip and shut his eyes, his head facing downward and not moving at all as he spoke.

 

Kairi felt terrible. Of course things were bad, but they were home, out of the hospital, out of that...prison. "They're not anymore, Sora. You're out, home."

 

"Maybe, but it isn't quite the homecoming I was imagining." Sora let out softly. He had thought that when he got home, all the problems would go away. He would be happy and carefree again. Or if it wasn't because of him being home, things would be all right because it was Christmas. But it didn't feel that way at all.

 

Kairi bit her lip. What was it that Sora imagined then? Did he want his friends here to greet him? Did he want to be without the sling? Did he want something she couldn't give him?

 

Sora finally lift his head and looked over at the Christmas tree as he spoke again. "I guess...in the back of my mind, I thought that things would just be okay as soon as I got out of the hospital. But I was wrong." He confessed softly, somewhat relieved to get it off his chest. It also hurt to say it aloud because it was the truth.

 

"What's not okay then, Sora?" Kairi asked, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. Again, they were home, away from the hospital, the prison, danger. She didn't know if she was just being plain dumb or if Sora wasn't mentioning something she didn't know.

 

Sora bit his lip and looked down again, thinking. How could he possibly explain the sadness that he was feeling? He wasn't the same boy that he was before, and that really, really hurt. He didn't like this new Sora much. Or at all, really. It was rare for him to be happy know, and before it had been so easy to be happy for the smallest reasons. He missed that more than he could put into words.

 

Kairi waited patiently, her features expressing curiosity, concern, and confusion all at once.

 

Sora sighed softly. How could he tell Kairi that the boy that she loved didn't really exist anymore? It would break her heart...and his, too.

 

"Sora, please," Kairi said. The silence was too intense; she didn't like it.

 

Sora bit his lip. "Sorry," he apologized again.

 

Kairi hated the feeling she was getting--impatience, frustration. "No more apologies. Just be honest," she encouraged.

 

Sora looked up at the tree, surprised by Kairi's somewhat harsh tone. "I'm not the same person I used to be, and I hate it." Sora blurt out, frustration written all over his face.

 

Kairi fell silent. It was true, he wasn't the same old Sora anymore. But she wasn't the same Kairi, and Roxas wasn't the same either. This experience had changed all of them. Kairi looked at Sora again. Once she saw the look on his face, she knew that he had been the one who had changed the most out of all of them. And she felt terrible because she couldn't do anything about it.

 

Sora shook his head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let you stay here with me. I should have known I'd ruin Christmas." Sora bit his lip and started walking away, not really sure where he was going and not really caring at the same time.