"It is not love that is blind, but jealousy." ~Lawrence Durrell Justine
"The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves." ~William Penn
"Jealousy is always born with love, but does not always die with it." ~Fran ois Duc de La Rochefoucauld
"It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered." ~Aeschylus
"Jealousy in romance is like salt in food. A little can enhance the savor, but too much can spoil the pleasure and, under certain circumstances, can be life-threatening." ~Maya Angelou - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Best buds forever, right?"
"Right!"
"Ouch!"
"Sorry, did I hurt you?" Riku holds his hand out to Sora, a mocking smirk playing at the corners of his lips. Sora glares back at him and smacks his hand away, getting up on his own.
"No." He answers annoyed as he brushes sand off his clothing.
"Hah, you're just a sore loser."
"Shut up."
Riku reaches down and tossels Sora's hair as he walks away before Sora smacks his hand away again. He glares at his retreating back, before following slowly.
"Whaddya wanna do now?" Riku asks, strolling ahead leisurely.
"We could go for a swim or...Ah! Riku, what'd you stop for?" Sora yells, jumping back after walking into Riku.
"Who's that?" Riku asks. Sora follows his line of sight and sees a girl walking on the sand far ahead.
"Dunno. She's pretty though." Sora responds, staring at her distant figure.
"No kidding." Riku says distractedly as he starts to speed-walk down the beach.
"Hey, where are you going?" Sora calls after him.
"To introduce myself, idiot." Riku yells back to him.
"Well, wait for me!" Sora yells, running after him. This turns the walk over into a race and before they realize it they're approaching the girl at a very fast pace, startling her. She screams and jumps back when she turns to see the two nearly upon her.
"Whoa!" They both yell as the slide across the sand trying to slow down. This sends the two falling over one another into the sand at her feet.
"Ow..." They both mumble, trying to untangle from the other. As they get up, they hear giggling and both look up at the same time to see the girl standing over them, laughing with her hand covering her mouth, a cute trait. They stare in awe at her, stunned by how pretty she really is. Riku recovers himself before Sora and shoves him away as he stands.
"Really sorry about that." He says, holding out his hand. "I'm Riku, and this moron is my best friend, Sora."
"Shut up!" Sora says, shoving Riku out of the way and stepping in front of the girl, holding out his hand. She giggles and takes his hand in hers.
"I'm Kairi." She says with a smile, and Sora stares back at her, struck again. Riku clears his throat, getting Sora's attention, then says "How'd you end up on Destiny Islands, Kairi?"
"Hm, I'm really not sure..." She says, quizically. Sora and Riku exchange confused glances, then look back to the girl.
"Okay... well, do you live here now?" Sora asks, slowly.
"I guess so." She says with a laugh. They laugh with her awkwardly, confused by her strange answers.
"So, what do you guys do for fun around here?" She asks.
"Uh, well we have sword fights, or go swimming, or we race, or explore the island, or..." Sora answers, starting a long list before Riku interupts him. "There's a lot of things to do." He says, and him and Kairi share a laugh.
"Come on, we'll give you a tour." Riku says, holding out his arm for her to walk ahead.
"Okay." She resonds happily, smiling at them both in turn before starting ahead. Sora and Riku exchange glances, then follow after her.
After a fun day of showing Kairi the works of the island, and then taking her to her own hut to settle in, Sora and Riku head back out to their favorite spot on the beach to relax under the stars. A cool breeze blows over them, Sora laying across the tree log, and Riku leaning against it in a comfortable slouching positon.
"Isn't Kairi cool?" Riku says, a day-dreamy look on his face.
"Yeah. She's really cute too." Sora says, equally dazed.
"And nice."
"And funny."
"And smart."
"Yeah, it's so cool that she's gonna live here now. Things are gonna be a lot more interesting."
"Tell me about it."
They settle into a comfortable silence, each imagining their own fantasies of a new life with Kairi in it. And before they mean too, they each drift off into a dream-filled sleep.
"Sora..."
They're sitting together on the dock, over-looking the sunset, her head resting on his shoulder.
"Kairi..."
"Sora."
She turns her head up to look at him lovingly, and he closes her eyes as she does, and leans her face towards hers.
"Sora!"
"Mmm, Kairi..."
Sora's eyes flutter open slowly, and what he sees when he opens them is Kairi's face above his, staring at him.
"Ahh!" He screams, flailing.
"Shh! Riku's still sleeping." Kairi whispers back to him. They both look over to where Riku lays in the sand, still propped up against the tree, his head lawling to one side. A bit of drool is sneaking its way out of the corner of his mouth. They both snicker in hushed tones, before tip-toeing away.
"Sorry for waking you, but I woke up and no one else was up, and I was kind of lonely." She says with a smile.
"It's okay, I don't mind at all." Sora replys, smiling back at her as they set off on a walk along the water together.
They're walking hand and hand on the beach at night, the stars shining above them.
"Caaaaaw...caaaaaaaw." The seagulls call echos across the beach.
They stop, and she looks up, into his eyes.
"I love you, Riku." She whispers, as she closes her eyes.
"I love you too, Kairi." He whispers back, closing his eyes too and bowing his head to hers.
"Caaaaaw!" The seagulls cry louder as the flock of them dive at the same time for a fish at the water's edge. Riku blinks his eyes a few times, the sun shining uncomfortably in his dialated pupils. He rolls over and covers his face with his hands, allowing time for his tired eyes to adjust. After a few moments, he turns his head, squinting out at the daylight, groggily. After a few seconds, he opens them fully and the first thing he sees are two figures walking close together down the sand. In another moment, he's able to identify them- Sora and Kairi. This realization causes a swell of emotions to rise up inside his chest. Anger? Jealousy? He stares enviously at the pair as they grow smaller and smaller. Turning away curtly, he gets up to stretch and walk these feelings off.
"Where have you been?" Riku asks, as he jumps down from the rock on which he was perched. Sora, who had been walking by with a silly grin on his face, was too complacent to notice him.
"Whoa! Riku, you surprised me. I didn't know you were there." Sora responds with a chuckle, turning to face his friend.
"Where have you been?" Riku repeats his question, though he already knows the answer. Sora, sensing the tone his voice has taken, answers cautiously.
"I was with Kairi..." He responds slowly.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Well...why didn't you guys wake me up?"
"You were sleeping, there wasn't any reason to."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, really..." Sora responds, looking at him with an awry exspression.
"Are you sure it wasn't because you wanted to spend some time alone with her?" He says, looking away, an annoyed emphises on the word, alone.
"No, that wasn't it at all. She woke me up because no one else was awake yet. I didn't even think of waking you." He answers, his voice taking on a defensive tone.
"I see."
"Yeah." Sora answers huffily, annoyance dancing in his eyes. An awkward silence ensues, and Sora shakes his head, incredulous. He turns to walk away, but stops.
"She's not yours, you know. You don't get a say in whether or not I hang out with her. With, or without you." He says, his back turned to Riku. With a final pause, he walks away, satisfied. Riku stays standing, an anger he doesn't recognize swelling inside of him.
"Come in!" Kairi calls when she hears a knock on the door of her hut. She turns around to see who it is as Riku peaks his head around the corner.
"Oh, hey Riku." Kairi says with a friendly smile. "Whats up?"
"Oh, uh, nothing. I was just passing by and I wanted to see if you wanted to go for a walk." He says, awkwardly standing in the doorway.
"Sure, I'd love to." Kairi responds, following his lead out of the hut.
After walking a few minutes in silence, Riku motions to the water's edge.
"Wanna sit down?"
"Sure." They make their way over and sit down in the sand and watch the waves moves back and forth peacefully.
"You know, I'm really happy I ended up on this island." Kairi says, thoughtfully.
"Yeah?" Riku asks, looking at her.
"Mhm. If not, then I never would have met Sora and you." Kairi says, still looking out over the water. Riku narrows his eyes at the mention of Sora, but still takes the compliment happily.
"I'm really happy you're here too." Riku says, passionately. The feeling in his voice is lost on Kairi though, who is too busy admiring the moon's reflection on the water.
"Can I ask you something?" Kairi asks him, quietly.
"Anything."
"Do you think Sora likes me?" She asks shyly, a deep blush lighting up her pale face. Riku stares at her, striken. He swallows hard as his heart drops in his chest. It takes him a moment before he realizes Kairi has started talking again.
"I know we've just met and everything, but I thought you'd be the best person to ask since he's your best friend, right?" She goes on, finally turning to look at him. He turns his head away, trying to rid his face of the crushed look that has marked all of his features before she notices.
"Uh-uh..." He swallows again. "I-I don't know, h-he hasn't mentioned anything about you." Riku stutters, lying.
"Oh." Kairi responds, slightly disapointed. "Well, could you let me know if he says anything?" Riku nods quickly.
"Thanks Riku! You know, you're a really good guy, and a great friend. Sora's lucky to have you." She says, wrapping him in a hug. Riku sits awkwardly for a second, before patting her back unhappily.
"Hey, where have you been?"
Riku looked back in surprise, not realizing he had walked right past Sora who had been sitting in the sand.
"I don't think that's really your buisness." Riku said, turning back around.
"Hypocrite..." Sora muttered under his breath. At this, Riku huffed and started to walk away.
"Hey Riku, wait." Sora said, calling after him. Riku turned to look at him, irritation plain on his face. Sora sighed, noting his expression.
"I don't want to fight anymore, it's stupid." He waited for Riku to respond, but when he didn't, he continued.
"Obviously, we both like Kairi. Let's just go along normally, get to know her more, and if she reciprocates one of our feelings, then the other just has to deal with it. 'Kay?" Sora looked at him hopeful, holding out his hand.
Riku grit his teeth in response, but after a moment sighed, and shook Sora's hand, trying to ignore the acid at the back of his throat.
"Alright."
And so the next few weeks followed this pattern. The two friends spent time with the red-head that had captured their hearts, as a trio and seperately. And with each minute they spent with her, they fell more and more in love with her. It had started to become clear though, who /she/ had feelings for. When they were alone, the chemistry between Sora and Kairi was as clear as day. Being together was easy, and natural. They had gotten to the stage where sometimes he would take her hand as they walked along the beach, and it sent chills up her arm and down her spine. Sora's flirting advances were always well recieved and reciprocated. At night, they would hug goodbye, both unwilling to end the embrace. When the three hung out together, there were times when Riku would catch one sneaking a peak at the other, or awkward moments of this nature. And each glance infuriated him. When he was alone with her, it was comfortable, like they were old friends. And though he had considered it many times, Riku never could work up the nerve to take her hand in his, knowing the gesture would be unwelcome and create awkward tension. Anytime he tried to flirt did not go over well. If he was too forward, and his intentions were clear, then she would try to play it off, laughing awkwardly. If he was too subtle, then it would go completely un-noticed, yet he'd feel burned either way. And sure, they had hugged before. But they were quick, friendly hugs, and Kairi always pulled away first, not thinking anything of it. Riku was utterly unhappy with the arrangement, and with every day that passed, he grew to resent Sora more and more. They got to the point where they hardly ever hung out alone anymore, and well they still wore the label of best friends, both knew that something was changing. For Sora, this made him uneasy, as he was unwilling to lose his best friend, though he did not know how to fix things. It was hard to watch someone you know become someone you knew. For Riku, he felt exactly what was happening, and was usually the one distancing himself from Sora, since he could hardly stand to look at him these days. When he did, he felt the painful acid rise up in his throat and could barely keep himself from punching his lights out. Something needed to change - and it was going too.
"Riku...what are you doing in here?"
Riku glanced up from his place on the ground of the cave, before looking away, a bored, expressionless look on his face.
"You two call this your 'Secret Place', right?" Sora felt his face flush at the mention of the name he and Kairi had for the cave they discovered. One day, while exploring the island together, they had stumbled upon a long, winding cave passage. Following it, then ended up in a caverness room.
"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed, looking around in wonder.
"Sora, this place is so cool! Have you ever been here before?" Kairi asked, equally excited.
"No, I never even knew this place exsisted." Sora said, dazed.
"Let's make it our Secret Place!" Kairi giggled. Sora laughed at the name, but not having the heart to disagree, nodded.
"We should draw something on the wall to show that it's ours." He said, playing along.
"Yeah! How about I draw your face, and you draw mine?" Kairi asked, barely containing her joy.
"Isn't that a little childish?" Sora asked kindly, amusement in his tone.
"Who cares! Everyone needs to act like a kid sometimes." Kairi responded happily, looking for the type of rock that when scratched on a surface, wrote.
"Here's two!" She squealed, throwing him a rock. Catching it, he walked over to a wall, and began to draw. Crouching next to him, she started to draw the face of the boy she loved.
Coming back to reality, and ignoring his question, Sora looked at Riku curiously.
"How did you know this was here?" Sora asked.
"I saw you two walking behind the vines outside one day. I decided to follow them and see where it lead."
"Okay..." Sora answered, eyeing Riku cautiously.
"Anyways, I was looking for you." Sora said, taking a deep breath, "I have something to tell you."
Riku meerly glanced at him, before looking away.
Sora, finding the courage to continue, blurted out what he needed to say. "I'm going to confess to Kairi!" He nearly shouted, relieved to have finally said it. Riku's head snapped up to glare at Sora. "What?"
Sora, taken aback, looked at his friend nervously. Taking another deep breath, he continued. "I'm gonna tell Kairi I like her." He repeated calmly. "I think she feels the same way and-"
"No!" Riku cut him off, jumping to a standing position. Startled, Sora stumbled back, before hardening his gaze. "What do you mean, 'no'?"
"You can't tell her." Riku said, staring daggers at Sora, stepping closer.
Sora, feeling indigent, glared back, "And why the hell not?"
"Because you'll ruin everything!" Riku shoted, getting in Sora's face. Sora, uncomfortable with his proximity, shoved him back. Riku stared at him, shocked, before, nostrils flaring, stepped forward and shoved Sora, much harder. Sora, surprised at the strength of Riku's push, stumbled, nearly falling over his feet.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Sora yelled, getting angry.
"You cannot tell her you like her!"
"Why?" Sora asked again.
"Because then it's over! She'll say she likes you too, and then I won't have a chance anymore!" Riku screamed.
"That's not fair to me! I don't need to wait for her to get feelings for you, I don't want that!" Sora screamed back. Huffing, Riku walked forward and shoved Sora again, this time sending him crashing into the wall, not far from the drawings of him and Kairi. Sora, taken off guard at first, became infuriated with the way Riku was acting and quickly crossed the room to where he stood and shoved him as hard as he could, sending Riku back. This meant war. Soon, it became an all out brawl. Punches were flying and making contact, and they were struggling, trying to get the other to the ground. But Riku always been stronger than him. Even when they were kids he always won their play sword fights. But this wasn't for fun, and he wasn't holding a dull, wooden toy. Picking up a heavy rock, Riku advanced on him.
Knocking Sora to the ground, and holding him there with one foot on his chest, Sora stared up at Riku, panic clear on his face, fear lighting up his deep blue eyes.
"H-how can you do this! I thought we were best friends!"
"I love her, but all she sees is you. If you're not around, then I'll finally have my chance."
"No, Riku, please, don't! Y-you don't have do this!"
"I do." He replied coldly, lifting the blunt object high above his head before bringing it down swiftly without batting an eye.
"Ahh!" Riku gasps as he jerks into a sitting position. Sora looks at him quizically from his seat on the tree log.
"It...was only a dream..." He whispers as he stares at his hands, the hands that had just... just...
"Riku? What's wrong, did you have a bad dream?" Sora asks, jumping down to stand over him. Riku's head snaps up and he stares at Sora.
"W-what're you lookin' at me like that for? You're freaking me out..." Sora says, stepping back.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. No, it's nothing. Just..." Riku shivers, knotting his shirt in his hands.
"What'd you dream, Riku?" Sora asks, dropping to a squat beside him, looking at his friend with a concerned face.
"I...nothing, I can't even remember." He replies, shaking his head. Sora looks at him for a second, then shrugs.
"Okay. So, what do you want to do?"
"I think I'm just gonna lie down for a bit, okay?"
"Oka- wait... who's that?" Sora asks, pointing across the beach.
