Waves gently lapped at the sparkling sand, casting an aura of nostalgia on the beach. Riku's friends had left just minutes ago, leaving him to watch the setting sun alone as they returned home.
But Riku already felt at home. These islands, this ocean, this tree, to him it was all home. He felt happy here, alone or with his friends. Happier than ever before. Because, at one point in his life he had hated it here. He'd wanted to leave more than anything. The lapping of water against the beach had been an all too familiar sound, not a comforting one.
He'd hated the static islands, never changing, always remaining the same, suspended in repeating days, nothing new, nothing exciting. Every day was the same. When he wasn't in school, he was playing on the island with Sora and Kairi; racing, play-fighting, and building that raft.
The raft. The key to his freedom, his escape from this un-changing world and his un-changing friends. He was the one who had suggested it to the others, the one who never stopped working on it, even ignoring Sora and Kairi to build it, he so desperately wanted to leave.
His plan had left their friendship - and him - in ruins. Kairi's heart was ripped from her body, Destiny Islands was destroyed, and he had been seduced by the darkness, believing that even his best friend no longer cared. And it was all his fault. Everything. All because he had wanted to leave the damned islands. Because of that, he had nothing.
Despite the hate he had once harbored for it, here he was, sitting in the very place he'd tried so hard to get away from, and he loved it. He knew now that this was his home, and he never wanted to leave again. It held so many memories, so much friendship, so much love.
He'd realized it after he was trapped in the darkness. It was cold, and the rank smell of darkness disgusted him. He couldn't even remember the salty smell of the ocean, the smell of the paopu. He wanted nothing more than to return home with Sora and Kairi, but his decisions had made that road nearly impossible. But he'd fought so hard to make it happen, to get Sora's memories back, to find Kairi and defeat the organization. Even when he thought he'd never be able to go back to the way things were, he wanted his friends to return home and be happy without him.
Of course, Sora wouldn't have let that happen and they returned home together. And for the first time it did feel like his home. Just being here and drinking in the sounds and smells and sights he had once forgotten made him happy.
AN/ It sucks, I know. Especially the end. But, hey, this is really my first thing like this. I've never really written drabbles like this. :/ I'll probably rewrite something like this one day, just because I've always loved this subject. It's always intrigued me how much Riku hated the islands and how he wanted to leave, but in the end they all end up back there and he's happy with that. Aaah, I just love Riku so much. 3