The breeze from the ocean skimmed the sand lightly as Kairi sat between her two best friends Riku and Sora. All three of them eating a sea salt ice cream in celebration of the end of the school and the beginning of the summer.
"mmm…summer's finally here you guys." Kairi purred as she fell onto her back, the warm sun washing over her slightly pale skin.
"Yeah, finally" Sora agreed before grinning a wide toothed grin, falling just beside her on his back. "It's great that I can spend all summer with you guys. No fighting heartless. Just us, sea salt ice cream and the beach."
Riku fell into place on Kairi's other side. "Yeah, and cue your goof ball friends or sidekicks, or whatever they are." He huffed gently. " To whisk you away to save the world." Jealousy tingled in his voice, only really noticeable to Kairi.
"Riku, stop it." Kairi snapped. "If he has to leave, he has to leave. Don't ruin this summer Riku. You've had your share of ass hole moments." She sighed, closing her eyes away from the world.
That's right, he has when he gave his heart into the dark side. He not only hurt himself, he hurt his friends and family who cared about him the most. It particularly hurt Kairi when he would say something nasty to her that wasn't true and made it feel like a thorny rose whip had slashed across her heart. Leaving scars with each vicious word and also that time that passed between them.
Things had changed thought. Riku still had darkness in his heart but not as heavy as before and he felt so bad about hurting Kairi.
"Yeah, yeah I know." He mumbled angrily.
"SORA! SORA!" A loud familiar voice yelled from the other end of the beach. A familiar figure was running down against the sand, their hair bouncing slightly in the wind.
Sora turned around when he sat up, and he just looked at her. "What is it Selphie?" He asked, bunching piles of sand in his hands in anger. He knew exactly what it was and he didn't want to do it. Not this time.
"Your friends Donald and Goofy are looking for you and they said that you guys need to leave…now." Selphie stopped in front of the group, bending over slightly as she placed her hands on her knees, regaining her breath.
A smug look spread across Riku's face. He was satisfied that he'd get Kairi all to himself this summer. He could finally make his move, and make his feelings very clear without get that little runt in the way. He didn't have to worry about Sora getting in the way because he'd be gone for a lot longer then the summer.
Sora tried to let his hands relax in the sand, letting the grains fall between his fingers. "I guess I have to go you guys." He stood up just as Kairi did.
"Bye Sora," She said slowly before wrapping her long arms around him into a hug. "Kick ass for me, okay?" She whispered lightly in his ear, her breath tingling with every word.
"Always," He smiled. "I'll see you guys when I get back, we'll have to really celebrate."
"Of course." Riku plastered a realistic sympathetic smile on his face. "A full blown out beach party or something." He suggested.
Sora started to follow Selphie up the beach. "That's a deal then." He yelled before dashing off past Selphie, off the beach and out of sight.
The next morning Kairi woke up to the sound of her mother, knocking at her door. "Kairi dear? Riku's here."
Groaning loudly she rolled over in her bed. "What time is it?"
"12:37 dear." Her mom responded before hearing her mumble something to Riku. He slowly opened the bedroom door peeking his hand inside smiling at her. He walked completely in, smiling at her with every step.
"Morning Kairi."
"Mmg…"She groaned noisily. "Morning Riku." Kairi sat up, her vibrant red hair was matted on top of her head in a knot held together with a hair elastic. Her sleepy blue eyes watched him as he sat at the end of her bed.
"What do you want to do today? Anything you want to do, we'll do it." He smiled at her, knowing she had a shitty night's sleep since Sora left the day before.
"I don't know. Go to the beach I guess…" She said mumbling as she stretched out her leg and arm muscles.
They had spent almost all the sunny days for he first half of summer at the beach and sometimes Selphie would come too, but Riku needed to get his feelings for Kairi out in the open. It was kind of like an ambition, he wanted to be more then just this and he wanted it to be bright and he wanted it now.
What could he do to show his feelings for her? Write a letter, poem or song? Tell her flat out? Write it in the sand? Buy her a pretty flower and compare her to it? He didn't know but he had to think.
He finally decided just to surprise her with a mix of some of the ideas and it was going to be something special. He took her down to the beach, like it was a normal day and in their regular spot there was a dozen red roses and a little letter tucked inside. Inside the letter, it said how he felt and the finishing lines compared her to every single rose that was there.
In amazement she looked at them in total shocked. She didn't know what to say. If she said one thing it could end everything from the friendship to a potential relationship, but if she said the other, she'd be tied to a commitment.
"Kairi, I've liked you forever, I know not exactly my style or whatever but I'm so tired of just being the best friend like Sora. I want to do something about it." Riku watched her, as the light of the sun bounced off his silver hair.
Still in shock she just looked at his face, not answering that was making him nervous.
He looked to the ground. "Aren't you going to say anything?" The nerves still ringing in his voice. He was starting to get uncomfortable with the silence. "Please…" He pleaded.
She sighed. "Riku, I never thought about being more then this. I can see that you want it so bad but how about you give me time to think about it."
Riku nodded, understanding that something like this would be hard for her to swallow, so much to think about. "Yeah of course."
Kairi spent the next couple of days on her own, thinking about it. She had no idea what she was going to say. Finally the day had come, the day she'd tell Riku her thoughts. She knocked on his door lightly, early that morning and his lazy figure stood there after he answered it.
Emotions pumped through her, along with nerve and adrenaline. She placed her hands on the back of his neck and kissed him roughly. When he realized what was going on he kissed her back, pulling her into him, embracing it.
He had won, and there was nothing Sora could do about it.