disclm: KH isn't mine, i just like to play with the characters.

a/n: i wrote this and acutally liked it. i want its babies...XD. there wasn't supposed to be anything the kairi thinking, and then she decided to do stuff. hmph. and there's riku. yay riku! yes, dialogue has no quotation marks because i saw it in something i read a few days ago and i was all, 'omg so cool!' so i used it in my fic. :D

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She threads and rethreads, perfects and imperfects the thalassa shell charm over and over as she watches them fighting on the beach. The seashore of their childhood where she spent so many days, waiting for Sora to come back home. Despite two years, three months, some-odd days, and more heartbreak than she cares to remember, nothing has changed. Her boys are still fighting, the setting sun rendering them as picturesque silhouettes, and she watches them, as always, with a smile and a sigh. Now, she notes, the do not use the dull, harmless wooden swords of their youth, but the sharp, delicately wrought metal of the blades they have been gifted by destiny. Now, a thin line of blood trickles down Sora's arm, and the gash on Riku's cheek is deeper and cleaner than any battlescar from his childhood would have been.

Idly, she plucks a paopu fruit from the tree above her; those things seem to be sprouting like weeds now, and the legend lives on only in the minds of those precious few who have lived here all their lives; Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, Sora, Riku, and even herself. Her charm lies unheeded on the ground, but she uses the sand-covered needle to rend the skin of the fruit, before raising it to petal-pink, rose-soft lips. The juice trickles into a warm, inviting mouth, and she shudders, resisting the urge to spit out the bitter liquid.

Instead she tosses it in a graceful arch towards the clashing figures upon the shore. The taller one reaches out with one arm, and spears the fruit with his weapon. She cannot help but smile; of course Riku would be aware that something was heading towards him. He inspects the golden star, watching as it bleeds not only from the opening he has created, but from a smaller, more delicate one as well. His eyes meet hers with a smirk and a question, and she nods to him. Grinning, he brings the keyblade to his lips and licks the juice from it. She finds herself blushing and laughing even as his face contorts as the taste of the paopu enters his mouth. Their eyes meet once more in a silent understanding and Riku takes the dilapidated star and tosses it into Sora's face. The younger boy splutters, trying the figure out what the warm, wet thing that landed in his visage was. When he realizes, he gives Riku a baffled look and holds the fruit up questioningly. Riku laughs, full and rich, and Sora smiles to see him so happy.

In answer to his question, Riku gestures to where Kairi sits, waving happily to her boys. Sora nods and begins to lick the fruit. Kairi wrinkles her nose in disgust; he looks more like a puppy than anything. Not at all like Riku's sensual keyblade-display. But as he winces in response to the bitter flavor, he spits it out violently and gives both of them a look.

You guys, that was nasty. Ergh. How can you stand it?

Riku and Kairi lock eyes; mako-blue and aquamarine-turquoise. I don't know, Sora: she shrugs.

It's not that bad, you wimp; his voice and eyes are hard as he turns away from Sora, his weapon vanishing. Kairi leaps down form her low-hanging branch seat and waits from him to reach her. When he does, she wraps her hand in his and holds on so tight he actually flinches, before squeezing back just as hard. The sun finishes setting behind them, and he kisses her softly, the bitter taste of paopu tingling upon their lips.