Prelude: Ten Years Ago
Destiny Islands, a World made up of an endless ocean with three islands. The main island was filled with a town, housing a nice sized populace for the World. The next island is a bit smaller, being mainly a beach with several trees. The last one, a much smaller island often being considered a miniature island by the town inhabitants, was connected to the smaller island by a bridge and was home to a lone crooked Paopu Tree. No matter where one went they were sure to be surrounded by yellow sand.
During one twilight evening in the summer, four boys happened to be playing on the small beach of the main island. The self proclaimed leader of the group was a boy with silver hair and aqua eyes. He had pale skin, quite strange when the boy had lived on an island. He was the age of five though he was quite small for his size. Another child in the group was a dirty blond boy with stormy blue eyes. His skin was sun-kissed, showing his love for the outdoors. A four year old with a love of swimming, it was a rare occasion for him to just be on the beach. The next boy was a brunet with wild spikes going in every which way and that. His bright blue eyes were bright with his happiness and his skin was a light tan. The boy was also four and he was quite happy to be with his best friends. The last one was a boy with bright orange hair set in a coif and brown eyes. His skin tone was a light brown being a little darker than the brunet. He was five years of age and was only younger than the silver haired boy by a couple of months.
The four kids were building a sandcastle together, hoping to make it big enough for them to play inside of it. They had been playing for hours, getting the walls to be the size of the orange haired boy with the silver haired boy standing on his shoulders. The brunet and the blond were busy making a moat. Between digging the moat around the spot where their castle would be and carrying water over, the two had their hands full. They had already been there for most of the day, leaving their homes after lunch. Hours went by and they found themselves being out during the sunset.
Finally, it was finished. The blond was the first to walk in with the biggest grin his face could muster. Stormy blue eyes grew bright in happiness as the walls were much bigger than he was. His small voice called for his friends and was shocked that there was a small echo in there. His friends had really outdone themselves with such a thing. He did a small twirl, enjoying the room he had to play in.
The brunet went in next, almost falling off the plank of wood that was supposed to be the bridge. He gave a giggle before running next to the blond. The two gave each other a hug, beckoning for the older boys to come in. The shock of how big the castle was on the inside did not phase him one bit, most likely because it was his idea in the first place. Though he couldn't hide his smile or the immense happiness that he felt in general.
The orange haired boy went in, being careful not to fall into the moat. His brown eyes took in the sight of the castle being much bigger than they were and nodded in pride. He ran a hand across the left wall, glad it was sturdy. Maybe next time, they could make a bigger castle and be able to make multiple rooms. It would be a project that would take a while for them to finish, but it was worth seeing the younger two smile like this again. Their happiness and smiles came before anything else in his mind.
The silver haired boy grabbed a camera out of his backpack, debating whether he should join them. Just getting a picture of those three would be enough for him after all the work he put in to make this huge castle of sand. Silver locks flew around his face as he shook his head. The brunet would be upset if he didn't decide to go in there with them. So with camera in hand, not sure if he could even get a picture in the place, he walked in. His lips curved upwards into a smile hearing the soft giggles of his friends.
Though the four boys could fit in their castle, there wasn't much room to move at all. So the silver haired boy left out first since he was the closest to the entrance. The brunet followed after him, actually slipping into the moat this time. He came up out of the water and shook it out of his hair. The older boy helped him out and hugged him tight, not caring if his clothes got wet in the process. A small hint of pink could be seen on his pale face.
The blond pulled the orange haired boy out, giving a small "aw" seeing his friends hug. Little things like that always got him, especially between those two. He looked back at the other boy and decided to hug him tightly. If he had his way, they would all be together for the rest of their lives.
With all the hugs out the way, they were able to get a few pictures in before the sun fully went down. It was late, much too late for young children like themselves to be out on the beach like this. So they started packing up their things and grabbing their backpacks. Smiles still present on their face, because a day like this could never be forgotten.
The orange haired boy and the blond left first, holding each other's hands tightly. They took the eastern road, it was closer to the blond's house. With a final look back, they waved at their friends with smiles wider than when they left. However, once their friends were out of view, the smiles died down.
"Hey Tidus," the orange haired boy looked at the smaller boy.
"What's up, Wakka?" Tidus, the blond, bit down on his right thumb nail.
"We're always going to be together right?" Wakka looked back in hopes to see the other two.
"Course we are. You, me, Sora, and Riku. We're always gonna' be together and best friends at that too," Tidus grinned.
With that, Wakka slowly got over a small worry that was in the back of his mind. He stopped looking back for the brunet and silver haired boy, concentrating on getting Tidus back home. They would always be friends and more importantly, they would always be together.
Back at the castle, the brunet was waiting impatiently for the silver haired boy so they could go. He tapped his foot against the sand, finding the sound of his sandal against the sand to be a bit annoying. It was getting much too late to be out there still, and he was not going to be happy when his parents would ground him over it. However, he knew that he couldn't leave his best friend behind.
The silver haired boy was looking for something in his bag, something that was important to him. He had made sure to pack it and even sat it underneath some of his clothes. Oh wait...he didn't check underneath his jean shorts for it. That probably should have been the first place to check. With triumph, he brought out the yellow star shaped fruit known as the Paopu Fruit. He almost broke it in half before he saw the impatient look on his best friend. He took it as a sign to pick up his bag and start the walk back to town.
"What's wrong, Sora?" he asked as he grabbed the younger boy's hand.
"I'm not talking to you all weekend if I get in trouble for being late, Riku," Sora gave a childish glare.
"But I'm staying over for the weekend so how do you plan on not talking to me?" Riku tilted his head.
Sora only stuck out his tongue and continued the walk. His big blue eyes staring straight ahead and noticed how far the sun had started to set. He shouldn't get in trouble, it was too dark outside just yet. Though he could just blame Riku for how late they were, since it was his fault. No, that wouldn't be fair.
The sandy beaches gave way to a cobblestone road and houses. People were busy making their way from one place to another, none paying attention to the two young boys walking. It was sunset and it was that time for everyone to be going home to their families.
"Wait, Sora," Riku stopped walking.
"Huh? What is it?" Sora blinked before tiltinf his head to the left.
"I want to give you something," Riku said with the slightest of blush on his cheeks.
Sora looked at him, blue eyes wider than normal. It wasn't often that his friend had something to give him, well more like be serious about giving him something. He turned to face his best friend seeing that the hand he wasn't holding was behind his back. Slowly, he watched his friend bring the weird yellow fruit into view.
"What's that?" Sora asked.
"It's a Paopu Fruit. Legends say that when two people share one their destinies become intertwined for eternity," Riku held it close to his heart.
"Are you gonna' share it with me?" Sora smiled.
"Of course with you. No one else but you," Riku gave a gentle smile and broke the Paopu Fruit in half.
He gave the other half to Sora and watched his friend's smile grow bigger. The blush on his cheeks grew as he took the boy's hand so that they could start walking again. This moment seemed so embarrassing to him and he couldn't figure out why. It didn't mean as much as the thought of being able to spend eternity with him. Yes he had plenty of friends, but Sora meant something entirely different and he would never be okay with them ever parting ways.
Sora happily allowed himself to be pulled by Riku. The Paopu Fruit in his hand was all he could currently think about as he didn't remember ever seeing the tree produce fruit. He had heard of the fruit and knew where the tree was, but the legend that Riku spoke of was something new. He didn't know what destiny was, but he knew that eternity was the same as forever. So this legend was probably saying something like they would be together forever and that was the happiest thing that he could think of.
"Hey Riku," Sora grinned as they came to his house.
"Yeah, what's up?" Riku answered.
"You're the wife if we get married, ya' know," Sora closed his eyes.
"What...why?!" Riku yelled, indignantly.
"Cuz' you look like a girl. You're only the wife if the legend is true though," Sora could only think about the idea of them always being together.
"Oh fine," Riku gave him a pretend pout.
Before Sora could open up the front door, he was hugged tightly by his best friend. He could only imagine what life would be like once they were married and hopefully they would be as happy as his parents. Well if anything, they would always have fun and make sand castles with all of their friends. He would make sure that Riku would always be happy and well taken care of.
A promise of marriage came from the splitting of the Paopu Fruit. Two destinies became intertwined once the two had ate it later on that night. A happy life was all that was expected, but happiness never came easily.