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Braided Wire

Kairi walked slowly through First District, taking in all the sights and sounds of the town. She'd never seen anything like it, growing up on the Islands. Yuffie had told her it was alright to wander around First District alone, but to wait for a chaperone before going back to the small house or into Second District to shop. 
It didn't really matter, as there was more than enough to see and do in First District. She had a pocketful of gil that Sora had given her from his immense stash so she could eat lunch at the cafe and perhaps buy a bit of jewelery from one of the nearby shops. 

She peered into every shop window she passed, giggling over the baubles inside and wondering how many she could buy. She wanted to get a cloak too, as it was a bit colder in Traverse Town than she was used to. 

After filling her stomach with an overly large and thankfully delicious meal at the cafe, Kairi wandered down a street she hadn't even noticed before. She still had all her money, since the black-haired waitress remembered her from the other day and claimed that for a friend of Sora's, it was on the house. 

The second shop she looked into revealed a disasterous display of old magazines and engine parts. Looking up at the sign, she realized it belonged to the scruffy pilot she'd been introduced to the day before. 

"Maybe Yuffie's here. She mentioned stopping by to see Cid," Kairi said to herself as she pushed the door open and walked into the shop. No one was in the front, but light shone from the back and a tinny radio was barely audible. 

"Hello!" she called, and after not receiving a response, she wandered through the doorway and into the back of the shop. What she saw amazed her. She'd ridden on Sora's ship back from Hollow Bastion, but she never realized just what it was built out of. The piles of blocks boggled her mind as she looked them over. 

Sora had tried to explain that they all had special properties, but to Kairi, they just looked like some weird type of colorful metal. 

Heading towards the source of the radio, Kairi slipped on a patch of oil, almost skidding into one of the block piles. Thankfully she caught herself and let out a soft giggle once she'd righted herself. 

At first, all she could see of the lone resident of the shop was a pair of filthy hole-filled sneakers. Whoever it was, that person was slid underneath a partially-built ship and the bright light of a single bulb on a cord obscured any other features Kairi might have made out. 

And whoever it was, they were oblivious to Kairi's presence. After a minute, Kairi got bored of watching the feet and dirty jeans beneath the ship and turned around to look over the tools laid out on the workbench beside her. She didn't know what most of them did, but they were neat to look at. And maybe some of the little parts laying around could be made into jewelery, she thought, picking them up and letting them fall from one hand to another. 

With a wince, she dropped them, looking at the grease streaked across her hand. 

"Gross!" she exclaimed, looking for something to wipe her hands on. 

"Here," a voice said from behind her. 

Kairi jumped from fright. She hadn't heard anyone. But then again, the radio had probably drowned it out. When she turned, she was offered a rag only a tiny bit cleaner than the person holding it. 

After wiping her hands, Kairi looked down. Same sneakers. Same jeans. 

"You're Kairi, right? I think Vincent mentioned you earlier." 

The voice was the clearest giveaway, but with another glance, slight curves were visible underneath the dirt-covered clothing. The mechanic was definitely female. 

"Sorry to bother you," Kairi replied after nodding. "I've just never seen anything like any of this." 

"That's okay," the mechanic replied with a smile. She held out her hand in greeting but after looking at it she thought better of it. "My name's Bradey. I'm a test pilot and mechanic. But you probably guessed at least some of that." 

Kairi giggled and nodded. "So what are you building under the ship?" 

"Well," Bradey replied, "I'm not really building anything. There were just a couple bad wires that kept shorting out. They needed to be replaced." 

Seeing the blank look on Kairi's face, Bradey bent down and picked up a couple pieces of wire from the floor. 

"See, somehow a wire like this green one kept touching a wire like this purple one. But instead of the colored part touching, the metal part inside was. And every time it did, all the lights in the back of the ship would go on or off." Bradey twisted the wires as she spoke, making a pattern from them. 

"I think I get it," Kairi replied. "And it's fixed now?" 

"I don't know," Bradey said, her fingers still flying over the wires. "I haven't checked." 

"Oh." 

"Why don't you?" 

"But I don't know how," Kairi replied, looking at the ship apprehensively. 

"See the blue switch?" Bradey asked as she pointed to a panel just inside the ship. 

"Uh huh." 

"Go flip it!" Bradey ordered with a grin. 

Hesitantly, Kairi obeyed, her eyes closed as she reached out with one finger and tapped the switch on. When she opened her eyes, light was coming from the back of the ship. 

"Yay!" Bradey yelled, setting the braided wires down on the workbench to walk over to the side of the ship. "Okay, climb out." 

As soon as Kairi was clear, Bradey took a couple steps back and bodyslammed into the ship, causing it to rock a few inches on it's wheels. The lights stayed on. 

Kairi gasped. Selphie had been a rather rough and tumble little tomboy at times, but she'd never done anything like what the mechanic was doing. 

"That's good, right?" she asked. She noticed that Bradey had left a bit of a grease mark where she'd hit the ship. 

"Perfect," Bradey replied. "So, you want to be my assistant for the rest of the day?" 

After a bit of persuasion, Kairi decided to stay. Two hours later, Bradey waved farewell to the teen, who was happily clutching the braided wire bracelet she'd been given.