Do not own KH.

This story is going to become pretty angsty/twisted really quickly. I will give more warnings depending on the content of each chapter.

Anyway, sort of experimenting with my style in this one so criticism is highly appreciated.

Justice T.

Intertwined

Sora stared at the shaking fruit. His brain performed a somersault, sending mixed signals to his eyes, transforming the star-shaped edible promise into a sparkling rock ready to burst it's bloody juices at their heads. Like a shooting star, it could destroy them all while carving a dent into their island. The crater would be named on the behalf of the tragic death of the three teens. So young, so bold, so brave, so daring . . . it would be a strange death.

But Sora figured it made sense. The Paopu legend would have proved to be just as dangerous and awe-inspiring as the books said. Or nothing would happen and they would be stuck feeling embarrassed as the mutated mango, or whatever the hell it was, caused their breath to stink of sugar and mango imitations. Or was it blackberry imitations. Sora narrowed his eyes, picturing vague images of farming, imports, agricultural lessons. The answer had to be school related.

Again, his brain did another somersault as a pointed end of the fruit was shoved toward him. Even though the whole motion had only taken a couple of seconds, his mind had been firing rapid images in a way that slowed everything that truly mattered down. Such like the fact that his soul was about to be forever bound to his smirking, silly, stupid, and ridiculously arrogant friends. Red faced, skin bumping, laughing maniacs, if he was really being honest. After an eternity of thinking he finally realized why there was a pointed end of a star-shaped fruit near his mouth and he struggled to find the words to say he was ready. None came so he decided to go with the next best decision; outrageous laughter.

To say they were wasted was an understatement. Sora wasn't sure how Riku had nabbed the beer, nor did he particularly care, but there was a small amount of him aware that they had all reached past the stage known as "drunk". The next day would probably bring hell, a fresh star-shaped hell that fried their brains every time a door was slammed, a car alarm blared, or a torpedo was fired. Okay, the torpedo thing was silly, Sora knew that, but anything could happen.

"Fuck, Sora, how long are you going to stare at it?" Riku said. It was telling that he hadn't slurred a single word despite drinking more than his friends. "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet."

"I . . . was thinking," Sora defended. It took a second too long just to open his mouth. He hoped that whatever had come out sounded like English at least.

From Riku's pointed expression it was obvious that Sora had failed. "Take a bite so that we can go home already. The sun is setting, and we don't need your mom on our ass."

Kairi pushed her way in between them, lips veering close to the pointed top of the fruit in between them. Her red hair was cropped, ragged cuts framing the edges that reached just past her earlobes. "Sora's mom is way too nice. It's my dad that would kill us." She sucked the tip of the point, shoulders relaxed as her hands clasped their hands in the sand.

Sora nearly ruined the ritual, jerking the fruit away from her. Any more force and it would have landed in the sand. "Hey! No cheating! We're supposed to eat it at the same time." He was proud of how clearly he spoke this time.

"It was just a taste," she mumbled, batting her eyelashes at him once before licking her lips. "It's sweet . . . too sweet. You sure this is the right one?"

Riku shrugged, tilting his head and his shaggy Blue-but-also-weirdly-silver hair moved with him as he gave Sora a dubious look. "He picked it."

Sora frowned, patience snapping away from him the moment Riku's eyes found him. He knew Riku didn't believe the legend. "Shut up. I know you guys think I'm stupid for wanting to do this. But trust me, this is the key to saving our friendship."

Riku nudged Kairi. "Hear that, Kai? He thinks we're going to abandon him when school starts. He's just scared."

Sora spluttered in shock. "Lies!"

Kairi giggled. "So what if he is? High school is kind of scary when you think about it. If we don't promise to stick together now, we could drift apart. Who knows what type of person we could become when it's over." She closed her eyes. "So if this helps us remember to keep our friendship alive, I think it's important that we finish this."

Riku leaned in towards them and they unconsciously huddled closer. "Forever is a long time, guys. What if one of us doesn't want to be connected after things change. We could all end up hating each other." He looked down, his voice uncharacteristically cold. "If we ever become enemies this promise becomes a curse."

Sora couldn't tell if Riku was being serious or if he was just in one of his "moods". "That won't happen," Sora said with a grin. "We stick together. Always."

Riku met his eyes than Kairi's and Sora knew his brain had decided to work right when the grey in Riku's eyes shifted to a light green. He took the first bite, followed by Kairi, and then Sora within seconds. There was a squishing sound, explosions of flavor and liquids combined with the smack of teeth and clicking jaws. Sora couldn't tell where the sounds were coming from. He was only aware of the orange liquid dripping down his chin as he took another bite, grabbing a part of the fruit. His fingers slid against his friends while his cheeks rubbed lightly against either Kairi or Riku depending on which way he chose to tilt his head. They were pressed in that close and the smell of them collided with the fruit.

In this moment, as the power of their star shrinked into their fingers, he felt a warmth somewhere in his chest as he licked his fingers. It spread out from his heart into the tips of his fingers and as he gasped. The sweetness of the orange promise, the familiar eyes, green and violet eyes, warmth . . . he knew that he would never forget this moment. In fact, it was the greatest moment of his fourteen-year existence on Destiny Islands (and his brain affirmed this as no other happy, soul-emphasizing moment came up in his head).

The sweetness danced with the alcohol in his body and he shuddered with pleasure. His stress, his fears, all washed away in one big release and he smiled.

And then his heart slammed into his chest. He brought up one hand, fighting his gag reflex, as the sweetness curled into his stomach, turning into something sour that spread up his throat. Kairi was coughing, and from her hunched position Sora could tell she was feeling the same thing.

Riku continued sucking his fingers, seemingly immune to whatever ill effects the Paopu had. He sounded calm when he said, "Well, it looks like we signed away our souls in a pact using rotten fruit." His smile could almost be called sympathetic but there was something else in his eyes that Sora couldn't decipher. Was it disappointment?

Kairi sat up, rubbing her eyes with rough motions before standing up. "Still worth it." She gave them both a wide grin before running away towards their canoes. "See you guys tomorrow! I have a good feeling about this year."

Rick simply grunted while Sora waved enthusiastically. Okay, so the Paopu wasn't perfect, but their intentions were clear. This was a good thing. Humming to himself, Sora stood up with some help from Riku and walked with him silently towards their optimistic companion. He could already feel the latent affects of the drinks taking place somewhere in his head and he imagined the day in a sunny glow, from finding the oddly shaped fruit at the tallest paopu tree to Riku passing around a lengthy bottle to set them in the mood.

As with most memories accompanied by bottle, the majority of this experience would fade from Sora's mind. Only the bare basics, like the taste of something sour and sweet, Kairi's hope, and Riku's silence as they rowed back home really registered years later. The one thing that bothered Sora about this night was that for the life of him he couldn't remember why he wanted to do this in the first place.

With college graduation crawling around the corner, he knew, without a doubt, that if he could he would never have shared a paopu with them. His heart was tainted, full of pain and grief, and he had to keep it as far away from Riku as possible.