#amyhayanora

Kairi took a deep breath and stood before her floor length mirror, checking her appearance once more.

After a lot of fussing, her hair had finally cooperated and framed her face in gentle waves, along with a pearl barrette and a pair of simple pearl earrings that complemented her enchanted necklace perfectly.

That wasn’t too much jewelry, right?

She nervously smoothed down her lilac dress. The top of it was modest enough with its intricate lace, but was the hem too short perhaps? She wanted to make a good impression tonight—after all, her father wanted to make a business deal with a new investor that might not only greatly benefit her father’s current standing as the mayor of Destiny Islands but also improve the islands’ economy in the long run.

Kairi spun around a little, watching her dress’s hem flutter around her thighs. Finally, she decided the length was respectable enough and smoothed the fabric down one last time before the ringing doorbell pulled her out of her musings. She bolted down the stairs and shouted a quick “I’ll get it!” at her mom who had stuck her head out of the kitchen door before Kairi slid to a halt in front of the entry door and pulled it open.

There, in his full glory, stood her boyfriend. His hair was wild as always, sticking out in every direction possible, but Kairi could swear that at least some part of it had seen a comb lately. He had exchanged his hoodie and athletic pants for a nice dress shirt and a pair of black slacks and had even thought to put on a tie that matched with the color of her dress—although he had seemingly struggled with it, seeing as it loosely hung off his neck.

“Hi,” he greeted her with his famous smile, and Kairi felt her stomach flip.

“Hi,” she replied, the corners of her mouth curling into a soft smile as she tugged on his untied tie. Expecting a kiss in greeting, Sora’s eyes fluttered shut and he puckered his lips, but instead of granting his wish, Kairi swiftly tied his necktie. Once she was done, she bopped his nose with a giggle, and she only giggled harder when Sora started to pout. He soon smiled again however when he looked at her and reached for her hands.

“You’re beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she answered breathlessly and felt her cheeks grow warmer when Sora pulled her close. During the last year, another growth spurt had hit him, and Kairi was finally forced to look up into his eyes—or at his lips as she was currently doing. “You clean up quite nicely, too,” she added and closed her eyes when she felt Sora first bump, then gently rub his nose against hers. A soft sigh escaped her and a pleasant shudder ran down her back when she felt him lean in.

“Hey, you two can make out later!”

Startled, Kairi quickly pushed Sora away and looked back over her shoulder. Her mother stood in the hallway, and despite wearing a pink, frilly apron over her dress that Kairi had sewn for her a couple of years ago, she looked menacing in all the ways only a mother could with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.

“C’mon, I need you two to set the table outside.”

“Yes, mom,” Kairi replied sheepishly and fumbled with her hands behind her back until she felt Sora’s warm hand wrap around hers.

“Good evening, ma’am,” Sora greeted the older woman and despite her stern expression, her lip started twitching, quickly exchanging her frown for a smile.

Even her own mother wasn’t immune to Sora’s charm.

“Good evening, Sora,” she returned the greeting warmly, “I might need your help in a minute. Kairi told me you’re good with French cuisine?”

“I did cook with a French chef before.”

“Great! In that case, can you help me taste test and add the finishing touches?”

“Sure, will do. It already smells amazing though!”

Satisfied, Kairi’s mom nodded and returned to the kitchen while Sora dutifully followed Kairi to the living room and helped her open the big accordion doors to the spacious patio. A few wooden steps led down to the beach and from there, the ocean that now reflected the setting sun was way just far enough for the tide not to reach the house.

If that wasn’t the perfect ambience for a successful business dinner, nothing would be!

With combined efforts, the outside table was set up quickly and all that was left for Kairi to do was to stack up a few pillows on one of the chairs.

“Do you think this will be high enough?”

Sora walked up next to her and examined the height of the cushions on the chair compared to the height of the table.

“Yeah, I think these should be enough. Which means,” he turned around and wrapped his arms around her waist, “we’re done here. And I think you still owe me my welcome kiss, especially with this romantic sunset behind us.”

“Hmmm, I do, don’t I?”

Kairi raised her hands to cup Sora’s face and she felt him melt into her touch. “What’s the magic word?”

“Please?”

His plea went straight to her heart, and she gently tilted Sora’s face down before she rose to her tiptoes. She already felt his warm breath on her lips when a loud “harrumph” startled the pair, making Kairi push Sora away once again. She spun around and came face to face with her dad who stood in the doorway, glaring at the couple. Behind her, she felt Sora put his hands on her shoulders and straighten his posture.

“Good evening, sir,” Sora greeted her father, but a grunt was all Kairi’s dad offered him in reply before glancing back at his daughter.

“I see you invited him.”

Kairi immediately raised her hand to one of her shoulders and squeezed Sora’s hand that was resting there. “Of course I invited him. After all, Sora is the one who helped establish this business connection.”

Her father eyed Sora rather grimly before turning his back to both of them.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. There’s no business deal until we’ve signed the documents.”

“Of course, but—”

“Sora?” After shooting her husband an irritated look, Kairi’s mom squeezed past him into the dining room and waved Sora over. “Could you taste-test the soup for me, dear?”

“Of course,” he replied quickly and exchanged a look with Kairi. She smiled encouragingly at him and closed her eyes when Sora pressed a gentle kiss to her temple before following her mom out of the room.

“I hope you won’t display this amount of PDA when our guest is around.”

Taken aback by her dad’s comment, Kairi rolled her eyes and crossed her arms defiantly.

“C’mon, dad, it was just a kiss—”

“It’s not acceptable,” he emphasized, and Kairi knew there was no point in arguing further, so she relented.

“Of course we won’t.”

But her dad didn’t seem to be satisfied with her reply, so Kairi walked towards him, rubbing his back gently. “Dad? Are you okay?”

“He shouldn’t be here.”

Kairi pulled her hand away from his back as if he had burned her, and her heart started to pound more quickly.

“What do you mean? He introduced you to—”

Her father turned back to face her, spreading his arms in anger.

“He couldn’t even be bothered to tame his wild hair!”

“He tried to before, it didn’t work out! Besides, he dressed up just for this occasion! I didn’t even know he owned a dress shirt.”

“What about his loose mouth, then? Who says one of his offhand comments won’t completely crush this meeting?”

“Sora doesn’t have a loose mouth. And not only does he know your business partner,” she crossed her arms defiantly, “again, I’d happily remind you that it’s thanks to Sora, that you’re even meeting him—so he knows how to speak and behave around him. Sora’s also had to deal with so many different people during his travels, politicians, monarchs, you name it. He’s learned to be diplomatic and I trust him to—”

“Oh, his travels? You mean when he left you behind again and again?”

“Dad! What is your problem?!”

“He is my problem!”

Kairi winced, but her dad wasn’t done yet.

“He might’ve made today’s meeting possible, he might be here right now and play your perfect boyfriend, but I will never forgive him for how deeply he hurt you. He wasn’t there when you stopped going to the play island because of him, spending days and weeks alone in your room while everyone else was out playing. He wasn’t there when you were upset about being left behind. And he wasn’t there when you cried your heart out for weeks because he’d disappeared!”

He took a deep breath and suddenly, his anger was gone. All that was left in his expression was exhaustion and sadness, and it was through defeated eyes that he looked at his daughter.

“I can’t stand the thought of him hurting you again and again. You deserve better.”

“She does.”

Kairi’s head snapped around and her heart hurt when she saw Sora standing in the doorway, eyes turned to the floor dejectedly. But then he lifted his head and made his way to her with a determined expression on his face before smiling at her, reaching for her hand to interlace their fingers.

“She deserves the worlds,” Sora agreed while looking Kairi straight in the eye and raising their interlaced hands to press her hand against his heart. “But she chose me. Trust me, I’m still as surprised as you are that she would still want me after all the pain I put her through. But that also means that I can’t run and leave her, not again. Even if you hate me, sir. I promised Kairi I’d be with her for as long as she wants me, forever if I’m lucky enough. And I intend to keep that promise.”

“Forever is a long time,” Kairi’s dad pointed out, “and you’re only seventeen. How am I supposed to believe you’re serious about her?”

“Would you believe me if I asked for your daughter’s hand in marriage?”

Kairi turned to Sora so quickly she thought her neck would snap. She felt her heart pounding in her ears. Did Sora really…?

“Her hand in marriage? Really? You think I’d believe that you didn't come up with that on the spot just to shut me down?”

Sora let go of her hand and fumbled with his pocket for a second before pulling out a small velvet box. Kairi gasped and her eyes shifted between Sora and her dad.

“Sir? May I ask you for your daughter’s hand in marriage?”

There was an unreadable expression on her dad’s face, then he sighed.

“Guess you are serious after all. Then it’s clearly not my choice to make. However,” he added, staring Sora down, “you better make her happy. I never want to see her cry again because of you. Understood?”

Kairi thought she saw something like respect flash through her dad’s eyes when Sora didn’t even flinch before replying.

“I swear on my life, sir.”

“... Then go on. Ask her.”

Kairi’s eyes widened, but before she could truly realize that her father had given Sora his blessing, Sora was kneeling in front of her. The velvet box was now snapped open, revealing a delicate silver band with a paopu-shaped mount that held a diamond in the middle.

“Kairi. I love you more than anything in all the worlds, and ever since you’ve brought me back, I’ve known that I wanted to be with you. Forever. I don’t care how long I have to wait, be it a year, a decade, a lifetime. I just need to know that I’m yours—and you’re mine. Will you marry me?”

“I’ve been yours ever since you drew that paopu, dummy,” she replied with tears in her eyes and her favorite smile spread on Sora’s face. He reached for her hand, gently sliding her engagement ring on her finger. Her engagement ring.

She was engaged to Sora!

Kairi let herself fall into Sora’s arms, and despite knowing that her dad was watching, she caught his lips in a heated kiss and poured all of her love and affection for him into it, right up until they both desperately needed to breathe again, only for him to lift her up and spin her around with a happy laugh.

“Congratulations my laddie!”

Surprised by the familiar voice, Sora let Kairi down gently and turned to the living room. Kairi’s mom stood in the doorway with a very pleased expression on her face. And next to her, barely reaching her hips was…

“Mr. McDuck. It’s so nice to meet you,” Kairi’s dad greeted his guest with a handshake and the duck chuckled.

“Uncle Scrooge is quite alright. Likewise, nice to meet ye! Well, bless my bagpipes, I expected a business meeting tonight, not an engagement party. Sora!”

Uncle Scrooge waddled over to Sora and Kairi and shook Sora’s hand.

“You’re lookin’ hale and hearty.” His smile turned into a sly grin that reminded Kairi of Donald. “And this lovely young lassie is...?”