“Our ship’s just a little bit away, Kairi.”
“Your…ship?” She looked at Goofy and Donald - her new traveling companions, as far as she knew - then up at the large wood-and-metal door in the wall of Traverse Town. “Did you sail here?”
“Naw, silly!” Goofy gestured to the sky. “We flew! It’s like a spaceship.”
“Oh…” She turned her head to the cobblestone street. “I guess that makes more sense, huh?”
Donald and Goofy exchanged worried glances as Kairi’s expression grew more morose.
“The king we’re going to go see…do you think he knows where Sora and Riku are?”
“Uh, maybe,” Goofy scratched his head, looking down at Donald for confirmation. “We kinda gotta find him first, though. But the kings a smart feller, so I think he’ll know.”
“Find him?” Kairi said, confused. “Did he get caught by the Heartless, too?”
“Well, we don’t really know. All we got was a letter.”
Kairi looked back down at her feet. “Well, if he did, than maybe he knows where Sora and Riku are.”
Donald and Goofy looked at eachother, awkwardly, then back at Kairi, depressed and listless.
“Now, Kairi,” Donald clicked his feet together, put his wings on his hips, and stared up at their new partner. “Our ship has rules, and you gotta follow them before we can let you on. Just because you’ve got the Keyblade doesn’t mean you can ignore ‘em!”
“Rules?” Kairi asked, a bit surprised. She remembered Sora and Riku arguing about captain duty, who’d swab the deck, and how she was able to sit on the sidelines after nominating herself as cook. She didn’t think these would be as simple.
“Number 1! No frowning! Ya always gotta be smiling!”
“Smiling?” She repeated.
“Number 2! No crying until it’s all over!”
She gave a weak grin. “That doesn’t sound too hard.”
“Number 3! Before we can let you on board, ya gotta give us a good laugh!”
Kairi avoided looking at Donald. “That’s...pretty tough, though. I…”
She looked back up to see both Donald and Goofy stretching out their mouths, crossing their eyes, and, in Donald’s case, hopping on one of his webbed toes.
“G-guys, I…”
She glanced back again. Donald was sitting on top of Goofy’s shoulders, waving his wings around, balancing his staff on top of his head, while Goofy had his tongue out.
“It’s…it’s really not…” she said, stifling a giggle.
Suddenly, Donald lost his balance, waving his wings around more, with Goofy trying to keep the duck steady. They both fell, with Donald’s staff hitting the top of Goofy’s head, and his shield flying up in the air.
“Oh my-”
Donald fell hard onto the floor, with Goofy landing on top of his small body, spirals in their eyes. Goofy’s shield finally landed onto Donald’s head, embedding itself into the side of his hat.
“Aw, you big dummy! You messed everyth-”
They both looked back at Kairi, who had doubled down with laughter, holding Donald’s staff in her hand. “Y-you dropped this.” She stuttered, holding back a few tears. The two knights smiled with satisfaction before joining in with her.