Title: Fairy Tale

Series: Kingdom Hearts

Rating: K+

By: Ssomsie

Summary: "I don't believe in this fairy tale anymore; I don't believe that this poor, innocent fruit can actually do a single thing to keep us together." Sora/Kairi/Riku; Oneshot

Pairing: Sora/Kairi/Riku

Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts, surprise, surprise.

A/N: …As a canon-pairing fan by default, it upsets me greatly that I've had a recent attachment to Kairi/Riku; my mind rationalizes this by keeping with the series' "trinity" themes. Thus, Sora/Kairi/Riku is written…it's a little sad, in some ways. Also: this is valid to be re-proofread/revised at a later date, but right now, I need to get back to writing my original story and getting ready for Camp NaNoWriMo, so no thorough-proofing/revising now.

"What're you doing here?" The quiet footsteps came even closer to him. "I was trying to leave you guys alone."

A slight chuckle echoed through his ears, and it most certainly did not come from him. "Oh, don't worry; I noticed that quite easily." Familiarly, gracefully, and confidently, she moved to the infamous paupu tree where he sat, taking a place beside him.

Turning towards the younger girl, a slight raised eyebrow came despite himself. "And you're here?"

Coy smirk appearing, she moved her eyes to the sea. "These islands are all that I can really remember about my life- I mean, I know my life since all of our…you guy's…adventures, but…nothing before- I don't remember Radiant Garden at all. Yet…something feels off about these islands now…something that was normal before: a wide open sky, ever protecting and observing, yet distant, and an endless sea that just…literally…reaches as far as the sky does. But, in order for the sea to have so much territory on this world, the earth is shorted. The sea can't share with the earth very well, apparently."

"What's the over-dramatized philosophical rambling got to do with why you ditched him and snuck out here?"

Her expression turned more pensive, indigo eyes staring into the ocean below the two teenagers. "Maybe the sea wants to learn how to share."

Although definitely not the most eloquent thing ever out of his mouth, he could not help the completely dumbfounded and not-quite-certain-if-he-was-understanding-correctly "huh?" that instinctually flowed from his mouth.

Soft, delicate, and not-battle-weary hands reached up and yanked on one of the paupu fruits on the trees. "I don't believe in this fairy tale anymore; I don't believe that this poor, innocent fruit can actually do a single thing to keep us together. What's kept us together is our- yours and his, because I've barely done anything- dedication and hard work." First tearing off a section of the fruit, she soon after brought it to her mouth, biting down softly. Afterwards, she offered the fruit to him. He stared at her in surprise; sure, she happened to be a bit notorious for being somewhat-unpredictable and mature when she chose to be, but this level of cynicism befit himself much more than one of the seven princesses of heart. Noticing his hesitation, she giggled lightly. "You still believe in it?"

Truthfully, he had stopped believing in the fairy tale before they had even "left" on their first journey- that was why he had teasingly tossed that paupu fruit to the "true keyblade master" that time, which felt so long ago; he wanted to indirectly tease his best friend about his naivety, and of course, the brunette had fallen headfirst for the ploy.

"When'd you stop believing in fairy tales?" He took the fruit, having skipped dinner.

She ripped off another chunk of the fruit once he had a torn a piece off for himself. "Once they did nothing to save the innocents caught up in this war that we didn't even want. And before you start, you were young and ignorant, so don't even go down the whole 'it's my fault' tangent. It's not, and the only one that thinks you are is you."

He gave a bitter, slightly crooked smile. "Know me that well, do you?" He absentmindedly tore off another piece to eat, afterwards noticing how over half of the fruit had already been devoured.

Her tone changed- a slightly annoyed tone came from her lips: "Someone had to…couldn't leave it to him. 'Best friend' or not…he may be an expert on killing the strongest evils in the world, but he's clueless in matters of the heart…" Her voice significantly lowered as she mumbled, "In more than one way."

"He…didn't do something incredibly stupid to you, did he…?" Had she finally given up on him confessing to her, and then confessed herself, only to be unknowingly rejected by his naivety? Surely, she would know to literal-minded-proof her confession when asserting her rather-obvious attachment to the boy.

Indigo eyes turning to him, yet again holding a coy (yet mature) tint, a smirk pulled at her lips. "If he did?"

He could never bring himself to confess to the girl- for more than one reason. Of those many reasons, however, the bigger definitely involved the fact that she belonged to the aforementioned naïve boy; for years, he had watched the two, ever innocently and childishly, show interest in the other, and he could not take either away from the other.

Slapping his forehead slightly (with the hand that did not hold a paupu piece), he mumbled, "Dammit, Sora. Really?"

Tearing off another piece of the fruit, the red-head chuckled. "Relax- he didn't do anything…that's part of the problem, actually, but whatever. He's not ready, so I won't force him." Once she had eaten that piece of the fruit, she softly added, "It's just…too much sometimes. I know better than to say anything- he's not emotionally ready to be in a relationship, and honestly…I don't think that it'd work out right now anyways. He's so caught up in being the hero that…as ungrateful as it sounds…he never notices the people not in immediate danger that need him." Her eyes turned towards him, seeing far more into him than he was quite frankly comfortable with, and yet…also was so accustomed to that he did not even flinch. "Sometimes, I wish that I could hear him be willing to place me above the worlds, but it's too selfish for him. Some 'pure princess' I am, wishing for my own happiness before another's."

Offering his own slight smirk, he replied, "Isn't that human, though?"

"Probably."

"You still haven't said about the whole over-contrived sky, earth, ocean thing."

Her eyes yet again turned towards him; this time, they regained their teasing tone. "Sounds simple enough to me."

Raising his own eyebrows again, a smirk pulled at his lips. "The sea wants to share the sky?"

A slight pink color coming over her cheeks- betraying her still present but ever-fleeting childish innocence-, she nodded. "I'd say so."

She teases me like this. Sometimes I wonder…is she purposely cruel?

"And what brought about the sea's generosity?"

Her eyes went to the ocean as her fingers gripped a small branch on the paupu tree. "The sea cares for the earth as well; the sea is greedy and wants them both."

"Not as much, though- the sea's always had eyes for the sky, haven't- hasn't…it?"

"Nothing is that simple… It can't ever be that simple," she mumbled.

His eyes widened: the sea- Kairi- was never supposed to care for him- "the earth"; he was comfortably secure and acceptant of his status as the third wheel- as the friend who stepped down in order to give his two dearest people happiness.

"I realized…sitting on the shore with him…I can't…he's too much- I love Sora… I really do, Riku. But he's…he's…I don't know how to say it- or maybe I do, and just don't want to. I just…I'm a fluke- a mistake. I'm a selfish girl who loves two people."

Unable to help himself, his grip on the small section of paupu fruit that had not been eaten increased. "What…?"

Her eyes went back out to the ocean, and the now-set sun no longer gave him a clear view of her emotions. "You're the same as me. You're…greedy too, aren't you? We both love his light so much…but this dark night has to come eventually, and he's never in it. We can bear to look at the night, and I understand that you are much more accustomed to it than myself, even…but he's still scared of it- indulging himself on childhood fairy tales still. I…the sea needs the grounded earth as much as the free sky." She came closer to him- a violation of personal space that he should have minded but did not.

She was his best friend's girl. No, they were not officially together, but it was understood, all the same.

"Kairi…?"

"I'm sixteen years old. I've waited for both of you for over a year now, and I'm tired of waiting, Riku. I know that Sora's not ready…but you know what you want. And we both want the same thing. And if Sora wasn't completely dense, he'd want the same thing too, and he acts like we did three years ago, ignoring it, and…" He wondered if it was the moonlight's reflection and her hair that made her cheeks so red. "I really wouldn't mind if you kissed me and shut me up from rambling like an absolute moron."

If this was a dream, Riku was going to be tempted to take one of the anti-depressants he had been prescribed and refused to take, on the sole account of waking up from a dream deemed too-impossible to even consider come true and then be taken away.

One of his loves had just confessed to him. One of his loves had just asked him to kiss her.

And, of course, he was more than happy to comply, bringing his lips softly against hers. He tasted the same flavor of paupu juice that he had in his mouth. Pulling away, he noticed that her cheeks were definitely red, but she was adorable and marvelous and mysterious and knowing at that moment all the same.

"One day…" she whispered, laying her head on his chest. "I look forward to having his conversation with the dense hero, too. Think you'll be there?"

"Wouldn't wanna be anywhere else."

"Good…" She took the rest of the forgotten paupu fruit from his hand, eating it herself. "Because I'm looking forward to testing the fake-strength of this fairy tale." She motioned to the paupu tree. "And having the three of us eat one together, and making sure not to end up in the cliché ending prefect, white house with a cute little yard, and struggling in a small apartment that never has quite enough space, but is okay because the three of us are in it…together."

"And having him be…not-Sora-enough…to actually comprehend what 'together' means?"

She smirked, pulling away from him. "And finally arriving at the moment where he finally realizes that's it's not the 'power of friendship' or the 'power of the paupu' that's kept us together."

"Oh, really…?" He gave a playful, teasing smirk. "So what is, then, if you're questioning the oh-so-great power of the friendshipping-paupu?"

"The power of love- of the trinity…of dedication, blood, and tears, and of fighting when no one would blame you for stopping, and of taking fate into your own hand and realizing that the people who get happy endings are the ones who fight for them."

Tearing off another paupu fruit, Riku took a bite, this time directly placing his mouth onto the fruit instead of tearing a piece off, offering the girl a bite afterwards, as she had done to him. "Not for believing in fairy tales, but as a sign of promise- of dedication, blood, loyalty…and love."

She smiled- sincere, radiant, and mesmerizing- as she directly took a bite of the fruit. "As a promise- of dedication, blood, loyalty, and love."

He understood exactly where they stood, and her knowing indigo eyes indicated that she understood the situation prefectly: they were not boyfriend and girlfriend- they were not going out. Rather, they were waiting for the final piece of the trinity before commencing a relationship; they were waiting for the dense and innocent boy who needed a few extra years of maturity on him before actually proceeding into a relationship.

This was a promise- a future proclamation of love- , and he could not wait until the day that he saw it fulfilled.