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Description
To an outsider, it would seem odd for a young boy like Ale to have his little workshop so far from his house, but after nearly setting his house and much of the surrounding area on fire several times it seemed to the best idea to have him continue what he loved far away from where he could cause more property damage. Ale was, to plainly put it, a bit of a pyro. At first it was quite the nuisance with him starting fires and adding different things to it to get different effects, but it was an interest he pursued for many years. After hundreds of burns later, Ale had actually succeeded in making his own fireworks. People began to ask if they could have their own, seeing them as a wonderful form of celebration.

Soon Ale was sought out by everyone in the Destiny Islands for his unique knowledge of everything to do with fire. Of course, there were many problems with them that caused a steady decrease in his products popularity. It was partially Ale’s fault Sora’s hair was as crazy was it was after setting off a few too many of his favorite displays near the party guests. It took the small boy ages to grow back what had been burnt off and when it finally did, it was impossible to style. Sora’s hair actually used to look a lot like his friend Riku’s, but loved his new, wacky hairstyle more than anything. After that, Ale simply claimed that was his intention the entire time. Such a humble boy…

But now, back to our story!

As of now, the three were on their way to Ale’s house hand in hand with Ienzo and Myde watching them from where they stood on the beach.

“Ya know, I’m gonna miss those little boogers.” Myde said thoughtfully with a smile on his face.

“As will I, they always did have a knack from brightening up a rather dull day.” Ienzo agreed before spying Myde’s bag was nearly full to the seams, ”But now I must asked exactly what are you doing, Myde?”

“Well, you never know how useful these lil’ beauties could be! Might even be able to trade them for something cool! I bet there are people out there like be who‘d love ‘em!”

“Indeed, there must be many people who speak and act like you. Imagine it…”

------

It didn’t take long for the trio’s pleasant walk to turn into a full out race to the finish between Sora and Riku. They really were good friends, but could never skip a chance to compete against each other. Unfortunately for Kairi, she wasn’t quite as quick as the two of them were.

“Wait up guys! Wait! You’re going to run past Ale’s house! WAIT!” Kairi screamed, but the boys had already barreled past the dirt path that lead to Ale’s house. Kairi sighed loudly and continued on without them. Sooner or later the two of them would realize where they were and who was missing, and come back again.

When she finally came upon Ale’s house, she felt her eyes burn from the pungent smells coming from his work shed. Smoke was leaking from the corners, an obvious sign that their friend was at work. Favoring her personal safety, Kairi cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted for him.

“Ale? Ale! Ale, it’s Kairi! Me and Sora and Riku came to visit for lunch! Are you okay? Ale! Can you hear me?”

Once again, Kairi was worried for the personal safety of one of her friends. Honestly, these boys had to be blessed to not get themselves killed with all the stuff they tried everyday. Cautiously, Kairi went towards the door to open it. Usually, with smoke like this, Ale would come right out for some air, but there was a sign of him at all. Well, as far as the young girl could see through the thick smoke.  What if something really had happened this time? Call her a worrywart if you must, but Kairi always had her reasons after knowing them so well.

Before she could open the door, it banged open and nearly went off its rusty hinges. What stumbled out of the shed was hard to describe, but Kairi was sure it wasn’t Ale.

It was a tall, black, amorphous creature. Pure black in color, it’s shape was barely human looking, with a pair o musty eyes that cleaned in the sunlight. A hand reached out for her, suddenly protruding from the body, and flexed its thick fingers.

Kairi did what any reasonable person would have done.

She screamed.

Loudly.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! SORA! RIKU! HELP!”

Both boys seemed to appear out of thin air at Kairi’s call, brandishing thick wooden swords in her defense.

“What the heck is that?” Sora asked bluntly, pointing at it with his sword.

“Who cares, get it!”

Both boys struck out the same time, swinging their weapons high above their heads.

The creature immediately grabbed both weapons mid-swing and tugged them away from their owners. It glanced at them both for a moment, before striking them both in the head with their own weapons.

“What the HELL do you two think you’re doing?!” It asked angrily. Sora and Riku fell back on their rears, eyes watering as they rubbed their heads. The creature reached up to its ‘eyes’, and tugged off his goggles.

“Are you guys try to crack my head open?!”

“Ale!” Kairi exclaimed, coming forward, “What happened? You look weird!”

“It’s soot, Kairi. Just soot.” He told her, “Sorry I scared you, but you don’t need to sick your little bodyguards on me.”

Ale quickly shed his outer layers. A thick cloak, a painter mask, and gloves to protect him from the smoke and chemicals he liked to tinker with. He was still quite dirty without them, but at least he didn’t look quite as scary.

“Hey, you made her scream! We thought you were gonna hurt her!” Sora shot back.

“Oh, quiet, heroes. You’re princess is alright.” Ale said, handing them back their wooden swords, “Now, what do I owe my near-beating too?”

“We’re hungry and its lunch time!” Sora replied quickly.

“You are always hungry, Sora. Is that the only reason why?” Ale asked him.

“Well…”

“You spend all your time in there blowin’ stuff up! We wanted to do something fun with you!” Riku added angrily, “Don’t you want to play with us anymore?”

“Wha…? Sure I do, guys! I’d love to!”

“Then let’s have lunch and go explore!” Kairi said, waving one of her fist triumphantly. Ale knew he hardly stood a chance against all three of them. He folded his arms before him, taping his dirty foot on the ground as she thought quietly.

“…Ale?”

“… You three…” He began, shaking his head, “…Grilled cheese sound good?”

“Woohoo! Grilled cheese! Grilled cheese!” Sora yelled, jumping around. Kairi and Riku looked just as happy as he was, but… they just seemed more contained in their excitement.

“Oh, if only the rest of the world was as easy to please as you were Sora.”
------------
It was good to have a girl’s perspective like Kairi hanging around when Ale made the food. Had she not intervened, their grilled cheese probably would have been as black as the soot spots on Ale’s skin (but not from being burnt…).

“So what are you working on?” Riku asked, sitting on the edge of Ale’s porch with the others. They’d moved to his house to eat.

“Something for the big party coming up. New Year’s really special to everyone here on the islands, and I wanted to make it extra special this year.”

“And it’s the day we picked for Kairi’s birthday!” Sora added.

“Yeah, and I wanted to make something extra special for little Kairi too!” Ale said, chuckling as he ruffled Kairi’s hair. Unlike the boys, who’d already inhaled a grilled cheese sandwich or three, Kairi had barely picked at her first one. Ale saw this as he ruffled the girl’s hair and grew concerned.

“Something wrong, kiddo?” He asked curiously.

“Just… kinda sad…”

“Why?” echoed Sora and Riku together.

“I... I don’t want to get older. I was us to stay here and have fun forever! I’m afraid if I get older because I might start to forget things…”

“Never!” Sora burst, getting to his feet, ‘We won’t let you forget Kairi, nothing, ever! We’ve had way to much fun to forget it!”

“Yeah!” Riku agreed. He held his wooden sword like a cane and imitated an old man.

“Even if we get all old and wrinkly,” He said, imitating an elderly voice, “We’ll never forget!”

“And there you have it, there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Ale  said, his grin darkened with soot, “And I know the three of you will always be together.”

“Hm? What about you, Ale?” Sora asked.

“Who, me? Sure, I’ll be here! I was just talking about you three.” He corrected, “See, Kairi? We’ll always help you out.”

Ale had always been grateful for Kairi’s presence. He couldn’t quite put his finger on how she did it, but she just seemed to make everything brighter. Whether it was building sandcastle on the beach or fussing at Ale himself over blowing up  his shed again, she would always smile afterwards. Her cheer was infectious, and even Relena couldn’t stay a sour-puss  forever around this jovial child.

“Thanks.” Kairi said, taking a large  bite out of her grilled cheese.

“Can we get a peek at what you’re doing?” Sora asked hopefully. With his clumsy tendencies, it was a miracle his mother let him near Ale and his hobbies.

“I don’t think so.” Ale said, waving a thin finger at his friend, “You gotta wait and be surprised like everybody else. It’s only fair.”

Sora pouted, his lower lips sticking out much more than it ever should have.
“Try all you want, Sora, you’re not getting another out of me but this.”

Before Sora could object, Ale shoved the remaining half of his own sandwich into the boy’s mouth.

“That’ll keep you preoccupied.”

Sora grumbled incoherently, but devoured the rest of the sandwich none the less as his friends looked on with laughter.

“So is that what you were working on? Something for the party?” Riku asked, picking at a weed.

“Yep, haven’t quite gotten all the kinks out of it yet, but I’ve got something good. Aruliam has actually been a big help. That is, when that little twerp is stinking up my workshop with his cruddy flower smell.” Ale answered, making a face.

“I thought he always smelled nice.” Kairi added, smiling slightly.

“Yeah, but you’re a girl! Girls like you and Selphie always like that flowery stuff!” Ale replied.

“And Aruliam.” Riku interjected, “He’s kinda girlie, too.”

Ale laughed boomingly, the sound echoed back from the trees at them.

“Good one, Riku. Oh, speaking of girlie, Sora…”

“Hey!”

“… I got something for you. I made this for your birthday. I forgot to give you something. It wasn’t easy, I’ll tell you that. Take good care of it, you hear me? Or I‘ll fry our hair again!”

“Sure!”

Ale dug a small bag from his back pocket, woven together from many multi-colored threads.

“This looks cool! Thanks.”

“Er… open it, twerp.” Ale corrected him.

Sora fumbled with the cord knot for a moment, all the while hearing a faint jingling from inside. Once it was opened, Sora poured the contents into his hand. What was in the bag was a tiny crown charm looked to be made of silver, all attached to a shin necklace chain.

“Whoa!” Sora awed, turning it over in his hands, it felt icy cold against his skin, “This is so cool!” Riku and Kairi had both closed around him to peer at it as well.

“Thought you’d like it. And I’ve got something else for Kairi, too, but she wont get it until her birthday.”

“No fair!” Kairi said, folding her arms, “I don’t want to wait!”

“Do I get something too?” Riku asked hopefully.

“Hm, oh yeah…” Ale said, smiling cattishly before leaping on Riku and pulling him into a headlock. He rubbed his knuckles furiously against the top of the boy’s pale head, “I got this!”

“Yeow! Ow! Ow! OW!” Riku yelled, kicking his legs out as he tried to get away. Sora suddenly leaped into the fray, trying to get Ale in a headlock as well. His jump was a bit off, so the three of them only when tumbling right off the porch  and into a tangled heap. Kairi was practically howling with laughter by now.

Good times, laughter, friends… these were the kind of things that were so intensely precious to Kairi. These were the days she never wanted to forget.

Description
To an outsider, it would seem odd for a young boy like Ale to have his little workshop so far from his house, but after nearly setting his house and much of the surrounding area on fire several times it seemed to the best idea to have him continue what he loved far away from where he could cause more property damage. Ale was, to plainly put it, a bit of a pyro. At first it was quite the nuisance with him starting fires and adding different things to it to get different effects, but it was an interest he pursued for many years. After hundreds of burns later, Ale had actually succeeded in making his own fireworks. People began to ask if they could have their own, seeing them as a wonderful form of celebration.

Soon Ale was sought out by everyone in the Destiny Islands for his unique knowledge of everything to do with fire. Of course, there were many problems with them that caused a steady decrease in his products popularity. It was partially Ale’s fault Sora’s hair was as crazy was it was after setting off a few too many of his favorite displays near the party guests. It took the small boy ages to grow back what had been burnt off and when it finally did, it was impossible to style. Sora’s hair actually used to look a lot like his friend Riku’s, but loved his new, wacky hairstyle more than anything. After that, Ale simply claimed that was his intention the entire time. Such a humble boy…

But now, back to our story!

As of now, the three were on their way to Ale’s house hand in hand with Ienzo and Myde watching them from where they stood on the beach.

“Ya know, I’m gonna miss those little boogers.” Myde said thoughtfully with a smile on his face.

“As will I, they always did have a knack from brightening up a rather dull day.” Ienzo agreed before spying Myde’s bag was nearly full to the seams, ”But now I must asked exactly what are you doing, Myde?”

“Well, you never know how useful these lil’ beauties could be! Might even be able to trade them for something cool! I bet there are people out there like be who‘d love ‘em!”

“Indeed, there must be many people who speak and act like you. Imagine it…”

------

It didn’t take long for the trio’s pleasant walk to turn into a full out race to the finish between Sora and Riku. They really were good friends, but could never skip a chance to compete against each other. Unfortunately for Kairi, she wasn’t quite as quick as the two of them were.

“Wait up guys! Wait! You’re going to run past Ale’s house! WAIT!” Kairi screamed, but the boys had already barreled past the dirt path that lead to Ale’s house. Kairi sighed loudly and continued on without them. Sooner or later the two of them would realize where they were and who was missing, and come back again.

When she finally came upon Ale’s house, she felt her eyes burn from the pungent smells coming from his work shed. Smoke was leaking from the corners, an obvious sign that their friend was at work. Favoring her personal safety, Kairi cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted for him.

“Ale? Ale! Ale, it’s Kairi! Me and Sora and Riku came to visit for lunch! Are you okay? Ale! Can you hear me?”

Once again, Kairi was worried for the personal safety of one of her friends. Honestly, these boys had to be blessed to not get themselves killed with all the stuff they tried everyday. Cautiously, Kairi went towards the door to open it. Usually, with smoke like this, Ale would come right out for some air, but there was a sign of him at all. Well, as far as the young girl could see through the thick smoke.  What if something really had happened this time? Call her a worrywart if you must, but Kairi always had her reasons after knowing them so well.

Before she could open the door, it banged open and nearly went off its rusty hinges. What stumbled out of the shed was hard to describe, but Kairi was sure it wasn’t Ale.

It was a tall, black, amorphous creature. Pure black in color, it’s shape was barely human looking, with a pair o musty eyes that cleaned in the sunlight. A hand reached out for her, suddenly protruding from the body, and flexed its thick fingers.

Kairi did what any reasonable person would have done.

She screamed.

Loudly.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! SORA! RIKU! HELP!”

Both boys seemed to appear out of thin air at Kairi’s call, brandishing thick wooden swords in her defense.

“What the heck is that?” Sora asked bluntly, pointing at it with his sword.

“Who cares, get it!”

Both boys struck out the same time, swinging their weapons high above their heads.

The creature immediately grabbed both weapons mid-swing and tugged them away from their owners. It glanced at them both for a moment, before striking them both in the head with their own weapons.

“What the HELL do you two think you’re doing?!” It asked angrily. Sora and Riku fell back on their rears, eyes watering as they rubbed their heads. The creature reached up to its ‘eyes’, and tugged off his goggles.

“Are you guys try to crack my head open?!”

“Ale!” Kairi exclaimed, coming forward, “What happened? You look weird!”

“It’s soot, Kairi. Just soot.” He told her, “Sorry I scared you, but you don’t need to sick your little bodyguards on me.”

Ale quickly shed his outer layers. A thick cloak, a painter mask, and gloves to protect him from the smoke and chemicals he liked to tinker with. He was still quite dirty without them, but at least he didn’t look quite as scary.

“Hey, you made her scream! We thought you were gonna hurt her!” Sora shot back.

“Oh, quiet, heroes. You’re princess is alright.” Ale said, handing them back their wooden swords, “Now, what do I owe my near-beating too?”

“We’re hungry and its lunch time!” Sora replied quickly.

“You are always hungry, Sora. Is that the only reason why?” Ale asked him.

“Well…”

“You spend all your time in there blowin’ stuff up! We wanted to do something fun with you!” Riku added angrily, “Don’t you want to play with us anymore?”

“Wha…? Sure I do, guys! I’d love to!”

“Then let’s have lunch and go explore!” Kairi said, waving one of her fist triumphantly. Ale knew he hardly stood a chance against all three of them. He folded his arms before him, taping his dirty foot on the ground as she thought quietly.

“…Ale?”

“… You three…” He began, shaking his head, “…Grilled cheese sound good?”

“Woohoo! Grilled cheese! Grilled cheese!” Sora yelled, jumping around. Kairi and Riku looked just as happy as he was, but… they just seemed more contained in their excitement.

“Oh, if only the rest of the world was as easy to please as you were Sora.”
------------
It was good to have a girl’s perspective like Kairi hanging around when Ale made the food. Had she not intervened, their grilled cheese probably would have been as black as the soot spots on Ale’s skin (but not from being burnt…).

“So what are you working on?” Riku asked, sitting on the edge of Ale’s porch with the others. They’d moved to his house to eat.

“Something for the big party coming up. New Year’s really special to everyone here on the islands, and I wanted to make it extra special this year.”

“And it’s the day we picked for Kairi’s birthday!” Sora added.

“Yeah, and I wanted to make something extra special for little Kairi too!” Ale said, chuckling as he ruffled Kairi’s hair. Unlike the boys, who’d already inhaled a grilled cheese sandwich or three, Kairi had barely picked at her first one. Ale saw this as he ruffled the girl’s hair and grew concerned.

“Something wrong, kiddo?” He asked curiously.

“Just… kinda sad…”

“Why?” echoed Sora and Riku together.

“I... I don’t want to get older. I was us to stay here and have fun forever! I’m afraid if I get older because I might start to forget things…”

“Never!” Sora burst, getting to his feet, ‘We won’t let you forget Kairi, nothing, ever! We’ve had way to much fun to forget it!”

“Yeah!” Riku agreed. He held his wooden sword like a cane and imitated an old man.

“Even if we get all old and wrinkly,” He said, imitating an elderly voice, “We’ll never forget!”

“And there you have it, there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Ale  said, his grin darkened with soot, “And I know the three of you will always be together.”

“Hm? What about you, Ale?” Sora asked.

“Who, me? Sure, I’ll be here! I was just talking about you three.” He corrected, “See, Kairi? We’ll always help you out.”

Ale had always been grateful for Kairi’s presence. He couldn’t quite put his finger on how she did it, but she just seemed to make everything brighter. Whether it was building sandcastle on the beach or fussing at Ale himself over blowing up  his shed again, she would always smile afterwards. Her cheer was infectious, and even Relena couldn’t stay a sour-puss  forever around this jovial child.

“Thanks.” Kairi said, taking a large  bite out of her grilled cheese.

“Can we get a peek at what you’re doing?” Sora asked hopefully. With his clumsy tendencies, it was a miracle his mother let him near Ale and his hobbies.

“I don’t think so.” Ale said, waving a thin finger at his friend, “You gotta wait and be surprised like everybody else. It’s only fair.”

Sora pouted, his lower lips sticking out much more than it ever should have.
“Try all you want, Sora, you’re not getting another out of me but this.”

Before Sora could object, Ale shoved the remaining half of his own sandwich into the boy’s mouth.

“That’ll keep you preoccupied.”

Sora grumbled incoherently, but devoured the rest of the sandwich none the less as his friends looked on with laughter.

“So is that what you were working on? Something for the party?” Riku asked, picking at a weed.

“Yep, haven’t quite gotten all the kinks out of it yet, but I’ve got something good. Aruliam has actually been a big help. That is, when that little twerp is stinking up my workshop with his cruddy flower smell.” Ale answered, making a face.

“I thought he always smelled nice.” Kairi added, smiling slightly.

“Yeah, but you’re a girl! Girls like you and Selphie always like that flowery stuff!” Ale replied.

“And Aruliam.” Riku interjected, “He’s kinda girlie, too.”

Ale laughed boomingly, the sound echoed back from the trees at them.

“Good one, Riku. Oh, speaking of girlie, Sora…”

“Hey!”

“… I got something for you. I made this for your birthday. I forgot to give you something. It wasn’t easy, I’ll tell you that. Take good care of it, you hear me? Or I‘ll fry our hair again!”

“Sure!”

Ale dug a small bag from his back pocket, woven together from many multi-colored threads.

“This looks cool! Thanks.”

“Er… open it, twerp.” Ale corrected him.

Sora fumbled with the cord knot for a moment, all the while hearing a faint jingling from inside. Once it was opened, Sora poured the contents into his hand. What was in the bag was a tiny crown charm looked to be made of silver, all attached to a shin necklace chain.

“Whoa!” Sora awed, turning it over in his hands, it felt icy cold against his skin, “This is so cool!” Riku and Kairi had both closed around him to peer at it as well.

“Thought you’d like it. And I’ve got something else for Kairi, too, but she wont get it until her birthday.”

“No fair!” Kairi said, folding her arms, “I don’t want to wait!”

“Do I get something too?” Riku asked hopefully.

“Hm, oh yeah…” Ale said, smiling cattishly before leaping on Riku and pulling him into a headlock. He rubbed his knuckles furiously against the top of the boy’s pale head, “I got this!”

“Yeow! Ow! Ow! OW!” Riku yelled, kicking his legs out as he tried to get away. Sora suddenly leaped into the fray, trying to get Ale in a headlock as well. His jump was a bit off, so the three of them only when tumbling right off the porch  and into a tangled heap. Kairi was practically howling with laughter by now.

Good times, laughter, friends… these were the kind of things that were so intensely precious to Kairi. These were the days she never wanted to forget.