Pieces of Chalk

Pieces of chalk

Because even when chalk drawings fade away, love never truly disappears.

-

Over the years, the vines over the secret cave had grown thick.

They had not been there in a long time, and their children had stopped returning as well, getting on with their own lives.

For a long time, they'd almost forgotten about the cave. The same cave where two young islanders drew on the rock walls with chalk they found in the sand. The same cave where their journey began.

It wasn't that they didn't want to go. But with the hassle of everyday life taking their priority, they'd had little time to take their boats over to the island.

The last time they'd gone together was when they took their children to the cave, to show them where it all began. They were fascinated by it, and often went by themselves to the island with their own friends.

Now they were older and starting to make their own families. The couple, now in their seniors, didn't even give a thought to sitting in a wooden row boat.

And so the vines over the cave grew thicker, until not even a shard of light beamed inside.

-----

"Sora, what are you planning?" Kairi asked, watching her husband pack some things in a small bag.

"You'll see," He smiled. Kairi mused how even with age his cheeky smile never ceased to make her giggle.

"Come on Sora, if you don't tell me where we're going, I'm not coming."

"It's a surprise, so you have to come," Sora looked up at Kairi. Her auburn hair had dulled and wasn't far from turning grey, and they'd both received their fair share of wrinkles. But Sora thought that with age his wife only became more charming and beautiful.

"You know we're not as fit as we used to be," Kairi stood from her chair, struggling a bit under her painful knees. "So nowhere too far, okay?"

"I can't make any promises," He teased, although when he stood himself, the former keyblade master had trouble bringing himself to his feet.

Sora, whose hair with age had still not lost its gravity-defying spikes, walked with his wife out to the beach outside their little town. She saw a little rowboat bobbing up and down by the shore.

"Sora, wouldn't it be better if we just caught the ship over to Destiny Islands?" Kairi asked, noting their physical capability. "There's no way we'll make it to the island on that little boat!"

"Come on, you're talking to the key blade master here. We used to go there on boats all the time anyway,"

"Yeah, when we were young and without arthritis."

"Just trust me, okay sweetheart?"

Kairi reluctantly let Sora hold the boat still while she slowly hopped in, but felt a little shaky sitting in the tiny wooden boat. Sora stepped in too, and grabbed the ores.

"Alright, let's go," He smiled at Kairi, and started to row the boat towards the island.

Kairi admitted, she liked the feeling of the sea breeze hitting her cheeks as they rode across the ocean. It reminded her of the old days, when they always travelled across the water to play in their own little world.

She slipped back into reality and noticed her husband starting to struggle with the ores. "I knew this was a bad idea. You're not as young as you used to be, you know."

"I'm fine…" He muttered, and Kairi playfully noted how even with age, Sora still held on to his manly pride. "I'm not letting a little joint pain stop me from taking you over there," He smiled at his wife.

Slowly but surely they arrived at the wooden docks that were built so long ago, starting to splinter and break apart. Sora helped Kairi out of the boat, and they made their way off the planks and onto the sand.

"We haven't been here in a long time, huh?" Sora mused, letting his feet sink in the sand. If only he had the energy to run across the sandy dunes again, or go swimming in the water.

"Not since we brought the kids here," Kairi shook her head, stepping slowly through the sand. "So what are we going to do here? You know we can't do much."

"I beg to differ," Sora took his wife's hands and led her up onto the wooden planks laid out all over the island. They reached the small waterfall situated right next to the cave.

"Oh, look at that…" Kairi drawled in a sad voice. The two looked towards the cave entrance, not that you could really make it out anymore. Moss and vines had covered up the small hole, and it looked too thick to pull apart with anyone's bare hands.

Still, Sora tugged at Kairi's hand and pulled her towards the entrance, and tried to remove the vines anyway.

"Sora, don't worry about it. It'd be impossible to remove them," Kairi shook her head, and Sora stood in frustration.

"Oh, there's a way," He smiled, and he summoned his keyblade.

"Sora, you're in no shape to use that!"

Sora smirked at his wife, and held the keyblade in both hands. He lifted it up and struck the vines, and in one foul swoop the vines were cut in half.

"Argh… See, no problem. I think I did my back out though…" He rubbed his lower back, his keyblade disappearing into thin air.

"I told you not to do it," Kairi scolded, but then she saw the inside of the cave. "Oh, it hasn't changed one bit…"

She kneeled down with difficulty, and took a peek inside. The sunlight bathed over the rocks surrounding the interior of the walls, but she couldn't make out much.

"Wanna go inside?"

"I'm not stupid, Sora," Kairi shook her head, holding onto the vines nearby to hoist herself back into a standing position. "I'll never get out again even if I manage to squeeze my way in there."

"You'll be fine," He spoke, and knelt down himself to see if he could crawl inside. The entrance was wide enough, but his physical shape was another story. Still, he grunted and started to crawl through the tiny space.

"Sora, don't go in there! You'll get stuck!"

He kept crawling though, and finally made it into the large interior of the cave. He stood, groaning from the pain in his knees. "Come on honey, it's easy!"

"Don't think I didn't hear you groan from the pain," Kairi called out into the cave.

"Come on, this could be the last time we ever come in here."

Kairi sighed. Did she have a choice? He was still exuberant, even in his old age. Reluctantly, Kairi kneeled down again and started to crawl inside the cave.

"There we go," Sora said softly as he helped Kairi up. Dusting herself off, Kairi took a look around the cavern.

"You're right, it hasn't changed one bit…" She smiled, taking a look around. She found the wall where their children had scribbled all over, and stepped slowly forward to look at the markings.

Deeper inside the cave, she found a very faint mural. Drawings from their youth. She looked down to find the very one she was looking for.

"You can hardly see it anymore," Kairi said, and Sora looked over to see her pointing at the chalk drawing. The one they drew as little kids, trying to capture each other's faces. The paopu fruits exchanged in the drawing were slightly more visible, being drawn in the later years of their youth.

"It's still there, though," Sora smiled. He stepped forward and almost slipped on a piece of chalk, no doubt left here by one of their kids. He bent down, although it hurt his back, and picked up the tiny white chalk.

"We're not too old to still draw with chalk, right?" Sora smiled, kneeling down next to a clean wall and starting to scrape the chalk against the rock. Kairi shook her head.

"I don't think your mind ever grew old, Sora," She smiled, and bent down next to him.

Sora found another piece of chalk on the ground and handed it to his wife, and the two started to draw on the walls. When they were finished, they looked at their artwork with admiration, and Sora added one last little thing to the inscription before he kissed his wife on her forehead.

------

"Look!" A small boy of about 9 ran up to the cave entrance. "Is this the cave dad talked about?"

A little girl, about 11, ran up to her brother. "I think so! He said grandma and grandpa used to come here when they were little!"

"Wow, it's so old!" He stared in awe, and started crawling into the small grotto. His sister followed, and they smiled and giggled as they looked at all the chalk drawings on the walls. They recognized the drawings their parents told them about, but struggled to find the one their grandparents had.

"Hey, look at this one!" the young boy walked to the other side of the cave, looking at a much more recent scribble on the wall.

"Who drew it?" the girl asked, looked at the white markings.

"That looks like a paopu fruit," The boy pointed, "And that looks kinda like grandpa, don't you think?" He smiled at the spiky-haired drawing.

"That one looks a little like grandma too!" She smiled, pointing to the other drawing. "Do you think they drew this?"

"Don't be silly. They're gone now…" The boy shook his head. "Huh? What's that?"

The two siblings looked at a tiny inscription underneath the drawing. They made out the words;

Nothing precious ever truly fades.