"Do you even KNOW how to smile?" She smiled brightly at him. Yuffie (The Great overly cheerful, hyper-active and annoying to boot, ninja) tugged at his wrist, preparing to drag him, if necessary.

"If my hand comes off, it's your fault," Riku grumbled.

"Come on! It's not so bad! Learn to live a little!" Yuffie laughed, pulling him onward. He was the latest victim of Yuffie's mission to make the whole universe happy. Who knew where she could be dragging him? He gave up and trailed glumly behind her. He sighed. It was this, or get his arm ripped off. Yuffie was one persistent person.

"So, what torture will I have to go through first?" Riku asked, irritated.

"I think we should go on that huge rollercoaster first!" Yuffie exclaimed excitedly. She handed some money over to the ticket holder and then they entered the park.

Yuffie ran, dancing and twirling, all the way to the enormous ride placed directly in the middle of the park.

After waiting in a ridiculously long line for over an hour, it was finally their turn to go on. Somehow Yuffie was STILL more excited than humanly possible.

The ride whipped past, turning quickly and plummeting often. Riku had been on far faster and more dangerous things in his life, but Yuffie had obviously overestimated her stomach's ability to take that kind of ride.

She hobbled off as soon as the belt was taken off.

"Riku, I don't feel soo-" She leaned forward and vomited all over Riku. Yuffie staggered forward shakily. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and dashed her over to the nearest trash can. Riku wasn't about to risk getting anymore Yuffie vomit on his pants and shirt, which were already spattered with puke.

Yuffie pulled her head out of the trash can and smiled. She glowed with pure joy when she smiled but-

"You have puke on your face." Riku pointed out, bluntly. She rubbed at the liquid dribbling out of her mouth.

"I don't think I can go on any other big rides today," she said, smiling weakly. "Hope you aren't disappointed."

"No, it's fine. It's always been a dream of mine to be thrown up all over,"Riku muttered sarcastically. Then he said, louder."Why not just walk around a bit? Play a couple of games?"

"How 'bout that one?" Yuffie suggested, pointing to a booth with a sign proclaiming, in shinning lights and brilliant colors, KNOCK DOWN THREE MILK BOTTLES IN THREE TRIES, WIN A PRIZE!!

Riku went up to the booth and payed the fee. He received three baseballs. he aimed for the center, hitting his target perfectly.

"You can take your prize off the top, but you can take anything." The man said pointing in a sweeping motion taking in everything from the makeshift prize table up to the stuffed toys hanging from the booth's top.

"Ohh! Get that one, it looks so soft and fuzzy and adorable!" Yuffie screeched, reaching for a moogle plushie.

"Ok, I guess, we'll take that one!" Riku laughed, he knew she'd probably start whining about it anyway, so why not just let her get something?

"Yay!" Yuffie pulled the moogle down, snuggling it to her chest. "It is soft and absolutely adorable!" They walked down the boothed streets, Yuffie ranting about that moogle plushie the whole time.

"So, I'll name her Kitty! I'll be her Auntie Yuffie!" She laughed, happily shoving the moogle, now "Kitty", in Riku's face. "Say 'hi' to Uncle Riku, Kitty!" She made Kitty's arm go up and down in a waving motion, then pulled it back into her lung-squishing hug.

I'd hate to see her with a real moogle, Riku thought. His mind conjured the image of Yuffie squeezing the life out of a poor moogle, as it attempted to break free, its paws clawing at the air for dear life. Riku laughed at the thought.

"Why Kitty?" He asked, curious.

"She's cute like a kitten." Yuffie answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

"Well, Kitty says to let Uncle Riku hold her, because Auntie Yuffie is crushing her internal organs," Riku interpreted for Kitty.

"But, Kitty doesn't want to be covered in puke!" Yuffie protested.

"I wouldn't be covered in puke, if you hadn't thrown up on me." Yuffie was really starting to get on his nerves.

"Let's get some ice cream!" She yelled out, grabbing his wrist.

"Not again," he sighed. This was going to be a very long rest of the day. "Don't you think it's a little too soon to be eating?"

"Of course not! The ice cream is calling!" She ran off, giving up her attempt to drag him.

"Fine," he mumbled. "Wait up!" He yelled a second later, running after her. After a few seconds, he reached her.

"Hummm...I don't know, there's so many flavors," Yuffie looked up at the list. There were many different types to chose from, and she enjoyed most of them.

"Just chose already and get on with your life!" Riku said. She turned her head to see that he was behind her.

"Do you want anything?" She asked him.

"Not particularly." He replied.

"I'll take two strawberry soft-serves with those chocolate crust-coating thingys, please." Yuffie ordered, ignoring Riku. The lady at the stand scooped out the ice cream and dipped it in the sauce. After waiting for it to harden, she handed the cones to Yuffie, who in turn, gave her money to pay for them."Thanks," she said happily, shoving the other cone into Riku's hand.

"What if I'm allergic to strawberries?" He asked.

"You are?" She readied herself to snatch the cone back from him.

"No, but--" Riku started, only to be interrupted.

"Then, eat it!" She said. "I didn't just buy that for nothing!"

"I guess, it won't kill me.." He sighed. "I suppose it must be edible." He took a bite, crunching the chocolate and just reaching the cold strawberry ice cream inside.

"What do you think?" Yuffie jumped. "Isn't it awesome?!"

"It's okay. Pretty good," he answered, taking another bite. "So, what's next?"

"I say we should try another ride after we eat these!" Yuffie bounced, taking a bite of her ice cream as she landed.

"Do we really have to go through THAT again?"

"No, not the whole throwing up episode, just maybe the Ferris Wheel or the Merry-Go-Round." Yuffie explained.

"Ok, that seems fine," Riku looked over at the Ferris Wheel. It wasn't really all that high up, but maybe, just maybe, you could see the ocean and the horizon from up there. And it was almost sunset. Just like a little taste of home. He wasn't the nostalgic type, but he had to admit it...he missed the sun, sand, ocean, and most of all, his friends.

A small part of him missed the feeling of the place. The timelessness, and the unchanging air of it. The absolute certainty that it would always be the same. But, most of him still hated that. A place for dreaming and nothing more.

"Then, shouldn't we be heading over?" Yuffie spoke, breaking into his thoughts, pushing him partially back to the sunny street and the ice cream cone

melting all over his hand.

"Yeah," he said, still half in his thoughts.

They began the walk to the Ferris Wheel. They had just finished their ice creams, when Yuffie began to get worried.

"I hope Kitty doesn't fall of the ride," she fussed, clutching the moogle plushie.

"Don't worry, Kitty'll be fine," Riku reassured, then added,"If Kitty falls, I'll catch her."

"Thanks!" Yuffie smiled and hugged him. Good thing she didn't hug people like she hugged Kitty. She pulled away, making Kitty give him a little kiss on the cheek. Kitty felt soft against his face. "Kitty says thanks, too!"

"Your welcome," he gave Kitty a pat on the head. Wow, Yuffie was right, that was one soft plushie.

Luckily for them, the line for the Ferris Wheel wasn't too long.

They got on and the safety bars were lowered over them. The wheel begun its assent, stopping at certain intervals to allow each group to get to see the view at the top.

"Wow," Yuffie gasped when they'd reached the top. The view was perfect. The sun set a golden crimson intertwined with shades of orange and pink. The ocean reflected the colors, adding the glittering tint of sunshine on water. Then the ride continued in its descent and the skyline became obscured from view. They reached the ground and were let off.

"It's kinda late, maybe we should head out." Yuffie skipped, heading in the direction of the bus stop.

"When does the bus come anyway?" Riku inquired, looking around for a clock.

"Probably in a half hour. Those things come, like every hour or so." Yuffie answered with certainty.

"Yeah, then let's go!" They started down the path. Riku looked up at the sky, nearly night already.

"Not too bad a day." He mumbled to himself. They actually hadn't done that much. They'd arrived late in the day, so they'd probably only spent a few hours in the park (about half of that waiting in lines.).

"Ohh! Don't the lights look pretty?!" She asked staring around at all the carnival lights and lanterns strung between the booths and across the streets. The effect was muted luminescent hues of soft yellows, blues, greens, reds, and pinks battling against flashy neon lights, sparkling brightly against the deepening blue sky.

Yuffie danced across the street, spinning and twirling. She stepped forward haphazardly and-

"AHHH!" She yelled as she started to fall. She'd tripped on a discarded soda can. Riku dashed at her, quickly catching her and setting her upright.

"You should be more careful!" Riku laughed.

"What's so funny? I could have seriously injured myself," Yuffie fumed, then began to laugh. "Just imagine that! Going into the emergency room and saying 'I tripped over an empty soda can, I believe I may have broken something'!"

Riku laughed again, imagining Yuffie standing in front of a hospital reception area, explaining her injuries to the receptionist.

"I'll make sure you don't kill yourself on a candy wrapper or something," Riku grinned. So, with that they began to continue on their way. Riku looked down to check if the aforementioned candy wrapper was positioned for the attack. Something else caught his eye instead. His hand holding Yuffie's. "Oh, sorry." He said, pulling his hand away.

"No, that's fine. Hey, I want to ask you something," Yuffie said, reaching for his hand.

"What is it?" He asked. Yuffie was one different person, he'd learned that. Not just today, but all those other times he'd talked to her. Who knew what she'd say? He tried to be prepared, but he was going to be surprised by whatever she was going to ask.

"What are you afraid of?" She asked in a serious voice, looking up at the sky. That had certainly caught Riku off guard.

He basically had three plans of action he could use for this one. He could be honest and spill his guts on her in the process. He could just ignore the question and try to change the subject. Or he could lie, but he didn't want to lie to Yuffie.

They'd almost reached the park entryway. Just on the other side of the street was the Gummi-

stop. Most everyone just called it the Bus stop, and the ships buses. Riku saw the opportunity to escape the question easily. If only Yuffie wasn't asking it. He knew her enough to know she was going to keep asking until she got an answer.

She'd done this to him before today, too. She seemed to be an expert at asking questions you didn't want to answer. Questions some people didn't want to answer, even if it was only to themselves. She liked to get her answer and she was waiting for his.

"What are you afraid of?" Yuffie interrogated, looking him directly in the eyes.

"Nothing," he mumbled, breaking off her gaze, by turning his head away. "I'm not afraid of anything."

"There's nothing wrong with being afraid of things," Yuffie said, looking at him.

"Being afraid makes you weak." Riku replied. He thought of another time when he'd thought like this. He cringed internally. That hadn't ended up very well.

"Being scared doesn't make you weak, it makes you human." Yuffie said, quietly. She turned her gaze away from Riku and at the way ahead. They were almost at the entryway.

"What are YOU scared of?" Riku pounced her own question upon her.

"Hummm..I guess, I'm scared that...uhh...I don't really know. It's just so hard to lock on one thing." She smiled at him. "How 'bout we think about this for a while? Then give each other the answer when we're ready," she suggested.

"Sure," Riku laughed. He should have figured to spring Yuffie's own question on her.

They reached the gate and slipped through it. Then, Riku and Yuffie crossed the street. They sat down on the bench situated on the sidewalk for the purpose of waiting for buses. Yuffie yawned and her head fell against his shoulder.

"You don't want to fall asleep before the bus shows," Riku smiled, prodding her shoulder gently.

"Sorry," her words were half-yawning, half-spoken. "I did some work before we left and now, I'm just drained."

"Ok, then. I'll wake you up when it comes," Riku offered.

"Thanks," she yawned again, nodding off.

Riku stared at the road ahead, thoughtful.

So, what's the answer, Riku? He asked himself. When Yuffie wanted an answer, he'd have to say SOMETHING. He knew quiet well what he was scared of the most. But, could he really say it to someone? He sat there, pondering.

Brilliant lights appeared on the road ahead. The bus skidded to a halt in front of the stop.

It wasn't a regular sort of bus. It was equip like a Gummi ship and worked similarly to one. One could use it to travel to other worlds. All the bus really did was hold a lot more people.

"Wake up, Yuffie," he shook her. She slept right through that. He figured trying to wake her up any longer would result in the bus just leaving without them. He slipped one arm around her shoulders and the other under her legs. He lifted her up, careful not to let Kitty fall from her loose, drowsy grip.

Riku walked up the stairs into the inside of the bus.

"Fare for two?" The driver smiled kindly at him. She'd been driving the bus earlier and she must have remembered them. Or it wasn't an unusual thing for anyone to be dragging around another's body. "Just put her down on that front seat."

"Thanks," he placed Yuffie down on the first seat and pulled some munny out of his pocket. As soon as he'd payed their fares, he walked over to the seat he'd laid Yuffie on.

She was partially slouching, slipping slightly off the seat. She seemed likely to just fall out of the seat. He sat down next to her, pulling her up and wrapping an arm securely around her shoulders, so she didn't fall over.

The bus was half-filled and gradually emptying out. By the looks of it, their stop was coming up soon.

Riku looked out the window. The universe seemed to swirl past. In a way, it did. Each world was just a minuscule piece of a much greater universe, everything adding up to a bigger picture. A mere fragment of everything. A little piece wasn't worth much. Useless...right? Did each tiny bit really matter?

And, there were so many people. In a place so vast, was each person really all that important?

The bus slowed and the blurred universe came into focus. A million sparkles of light illuminating a dark sky. Each star shed light. Each place meant something to someone. It sped up again, preparing to land.

It made its descent as Riku sat, feeling smaller than he'd almost ever felt, and pondering this place. This universe of endless possibilities, hopes, memories, lives, and heartbreaks. This place (or chain of places) held so much. And this was just a small piece he was seeing.

The ground slowly came into view. Riku closed his eyes and looked away from the window as soft white lights, stone buildings, and the shadows of lush gardens appeared, filling the space the sky had just occupied. Now the whole universe felt small and cramped, trapped into this world that was so tiny in comparison.

Radiant Garden.

The bus landed on the ground, the door flinging open for those who would be leaving, and maybe even entering, at this stop.

Riku sighed. He glanced at the clock. The Gummi buses stopped running in about an hour and a half. Not enough time to circulate the rest of the worlds and come back here. Looked like he was stuck here for tonight.

"Yuffie, we're here." He shook her, expecting no response.

"Wha...?" Yuffie's eyes opened, surveying the bus. "I guess I fell asleep. Sorry, you must have had to pick me up or something. Am I heavy or anything?" She grinned at Riku.

"Like a sack of bricks," he said, laughing.

"It's every girl's dream to be told she is as heavy as a sack of bricks,"Yuffie retorted, sarcasm invading her tone. They both laughed. Yuffie hadn't been hard to carry at all.

"We'd better leave, before we hold up the bus." Riku commented. He and Yuffie exited the bus.

"Are you doing anything tomorrow?" Yuffie queried, as they walked.

"No," Riku answered. It looked like she'd had an idea and it seemed that whatever it was, she'd get it to work. She'd stick to it directly. "Why?"

"I'd really like to see the world were you came from. The islands." Yuffie answered easily. Well, it wasn't hard to put two and two together and see what she had in mind.

"You really wouldn't like it...it's so...dull." Riku said nervously. He'd been avoiding going back there for a while...He'd left awhile after everyone had settled back into the lull that was daily life on Destiny Islands.

"I bet I'd love it. We'll go, even if I have to drag you by the arm again," she threatened with a mischievous grin.

"I don't think--It's just--I haven't been there in a while and--" Riku stuttered, attempting to explain why he didn't want to go.

"You're avoiding it, aren't you?" She grabbed his hand. "Do you feel like a sort of add on? Because..." She trailed off.

"I'm alone, or something," Riku finished, pulling his hand out of her grip. He didn't need any pity or anything like that. Especially not Happy, Hyper Girl's. What did she know, anyway? She didn't know how he felt. He didn't need "sympathy". He figured he was simply one of her "missions". That was it. And, then, here she was going all "shrink" on her. It wasn't like he wanted her around, anyway. He couldn't believe he'd started to like her...He had to get away.

"You don't have to be alone all the time. You have friends." Kitty lectured him. He returned the plushie moogle's dead-eyed stare with an angry glare. Yuffie was talking through Kitty. She burst into a fit of giggles.

"What is it?" Riku questioned, irritated.

"You're--glaring at -- a-- plushie!" She choked in between spurts of laughter. Riku laughed, too, imagining how stupid he must have looked glaring at that thing. Yuffie snagged up his wrist, pulling him onward.

"What was that for?" His mood was in the middle now, partly irritated, and half way willing to laugh.

"So, can we go?! Can we go?! Can we please, please go?!" Yuffie begged.

"I suppose..." He didn't really want to go, but he had to face going back someday. You can never run forever, and he knew it.

"YAY!" Yuffie clapped, releasing his wrist from her iron clasp grip.

After Yuffie had calmed down a little, they continued to walk towards where she lived.

"Looks like this is where I take my leave," he said in a mock formal voice, bowing slightly. Yuffie laughed quietly.

"Good night." Yuffie hugged him. He leaned closer and his lips brushed her cheek softly. It made him feel nervous, scared. He was pushing his emotions straight to his sleeves. He was showing

that he liked her. He pulled away quickly, making kiss a simple light touch, barely anything.

"Sorry," Riku mumbled. They both stood staring at each other awkwardly. He could feel the hot red smear smudging rapidly across his cheeks.

"That's fine," Yuffie hugged onto Kitty, her face blushing bright red.

"How many other people do you do these outings with?" Riku asked the question that had started out as a small thought at the back of his mind, now clawing its way to his lips.

"Not many," Yuffie finally said. "Only those who really need some cheer!"

"What about the interrogations?" He asked. He felt sorry for anyone that had to deal with that.

"Sorry, but that kind of pure torture is reserved for you." Yuffie joked. "I ask questions, but I try not to get too personal. Sorry, if I have."

Riku stood there. He'd immediately assumed that she did that to everyone. Why did she go out to ask him questions that made him examine himself as completely as possible? He didn't get that. He already knew what he was like.

"Where are you staying? I bet Aerith could get you in an extra room!" Yuffie jumped into motion, pulling Riku along for the ride, once more. She ran through the door of a nearby building. "Aerith!"

"Yes, Yuffie. What is it?" Aerith came into the main room. The back of the center they worked in had a nice section of living quarters, which was, if one wants to be as basic as possible is just a bunch of bedrooms and stuff.

"Can Riku stay in the guest room?" Yuffie asked.

"Sure, why not?" Aerith smiled welcomely at Riku. "I'll just show him the way. Maybe I could get you a change of clothing?" She asked in a kindly hostess fashion. We can all suppose Aerith liked a guest around to busy herself with some extra work.

"I'm ok, you don't have to-" Riku started.

"No, no you need something better to sleep in," Aerith left, returning in a few minutes later with a T-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. "Here you go," she handed them to Riku.

"Thanks," he said gratefully.

"We should show you to your room," Yuffie suggested, starting to walk down one of the hallways. She opened a door. "How about this one?"

Riku stepped inside the room.

"Good night," Yuffie smiled at the doorway, closing the door softly.

Riku changed into the clothes and looked around the room. He neatly piled his dirty shirt and pants on the chair of the desk sitting next to a window. There were thick green curtains pulled across the window.

Riku opened the curtains and silver steaks of moonlight spread along the floor. He pulled open the window and leaned out, staring at the sky. The moon was full and the stars shone, sprinkled in their complicated patterns all over the night's black dome.

The streets were bathed in cold silver light. It looked beautiful. The shadows and moonbeams blending in perfect tones. If Riku could paint, this would make his hands itch longing for a brush and canvas to immortalize this amazing sight.

He sighed, a gentle night breeze tossing his silver hair softly. Riku closed his eyes, and breathed in the night. It was a wonderful feeling. He opened his eyes and stared at the scene for another moment,

memorizing it. Every time Riku saw something that amazed him about a world, he tried to keep an image of it in his head. Every intricacy and detail, everything that made it what it was.

Riku pulled back, closing the window, but keeping the curtains open. He laid down on the bed, pulling the blanket over him.

He fell asleep with two images filling his mind. The beauty of this place, and Yuffie's smiling face.