The sun was nowhere to be seen. The sky was covered with silver clouds. The birds prepared for their diurnal nocturnal rest. Few fishes were still swimming, nearly obscure under the water's gray mantle. The ducks were buried under their own plumage, trying to block the chirping coming from the only people in the park.

It was a beautiful cloudy evening in Destiny Park. The light posts and trees provided a secluded paradise and the breeze was perfect. The light coming from the post glimmered on the gray water. The cool wind that cycled trough the leaves created an ethereal sound that helped soothe the soul. School had ended and Riku was overwhelmed with happiness. Not only was his getting up early in the morning over with, but he had all summer to spend with Sora.

"Hurry up Riku…the swings are empty" yelled Sora with a kid's enthusiasm. He was running as fast as he could for the swings like a kid trying to catch an ice cream truck.

"Damn, Sora wait up" Riku was trying to catch up to his little energizer bunny. He was already worn out from his walk around the park and wondered why he hadn't fainted from exhaustion. Maybe it was Sora's smile and childish attitude that gave him the strength. Sora seemed so care-free and all Riku could do was watch with amusement. "If I knew a bag of skittles was going to get you like this, I would've never given them to you." said Riku while dragging himself up the small hill, one foot at a time,

Sora was already in the swings and smiling back at Riku. "You had to. I was really hungry."

"Well I couldn't just let you starve, like a dog in the streets, seriously Sora, don't you have a mom?" Riku sighed and sat down on the swing beside Sora.

"I do… I just forgot to eat breakfast, that's all!" Sora said with an embarrass look in his face. He was not comfortable the way Riku was looking at him all of a sudden. That motherly look of concern, his mom sometimes gave him was now in Riku's face.

Riku started to worry when he saw Sora's reaction. "Sora is everything OK? You know you can tell me anything… Is your mom having problems?" Riku knew that Sora's mom wasn't having a lot of business catering lately.

Sora was a little surprised when Riku asked that, he didn't know what to answer. He didn't want to tell Riku that he forgot to eat breakfast because he was eager to spend time with him, so he said, "NO!!!, I really just forgot to eat breakfast. You came to pick me up so early in the morning I didn't get a chance to eat" Why would he think that we have money problems, are my clothes really that bad?

Riku looked down at the ground and said, "Oh…sorry, I never meant to…I was just so eager to spend time with you today that I couldn't sleep, and…" Is all my fault for being so…damn desperate to spend time with him.

"Don't worry about it…I ate your bag of skittles so we're even." Sora interrupted with a smile. So he wanted to spent time with me too. He was flattered to hear that from Riku and blushed a bit. Sora saw Riku looking at the ground with a grief expression in his face. He looks really sad. Sora felt bad for not telling him the real reason he skipped breakfast. Should I tell him I forgot to eat breakfast, because I really wanted to spend time with him, too?

"If you want, we could go to the store and buy a bag of chips or something. My treat." said Riku, suddenly looking up.

"No, is ok. I still have some of your skittles." Sora started digging in the bag for the remaining skittles. Sora's hand came out with six lucky survivors. "Ha! If you thought you could get away from me, think again." Sora said, looking down at the skittles in his hand with a voracious expression in his face. Sora opened his mouth and ate all the skittles at once.

Riku couldn't help but burst out laughing. Sora joined Riku and felt relieved to see his friend happy again.

Riku kept laughing until his stomach began to hurt. What's in your voice that makes me smile? "Sora I need you to promise me something…" Riku got down the swing and went behind Sora, a serious expression now in his face.

"What?" replied Sora, not knowing what to expect from Riku.

"Whenever you get hungry…come over to my house and… you can give my lollipop a lick" Riku's hands crawled to Sora's shoulders and started moving with a sensitive motion. Riku's soft yet stimulating voice broke every other noise in that park. The sound of leaves riding the waves of wind became silent. This should give you an idea, of how I feel about you. Just when Sora was about to turn around and stop him, Riku pushed the swing with a strong push.

Sora quickly strengthened his grip and closed his eyes. His heart began to beat rapidly due to that unexpected push and backrub. "HEY, warn me before you do that, I almost lost my grip!" said Sora in a whiny yet frighten tone. "I'm going to get you for this" Sora was trying to get down from the swing but Riku kept pushing him. "Riku, please let me get down…" Sora's voice faded out when Riku started to push the swing in a harmonious rhythm.

"Don't worry Sora, just grab on…" Riku's sudden exertion of motion made Sora feel as though he was a wooden ship, sailing blue waves of wind. The serenity and sheltered feelings he felt made him closed his eyes, and wait for his back to meet Riku's hands. "…I got you."

Sora began to remember meeting Riku for the first time. It was in the second grade when Riku transferred to Twilight Academy. It gathers all the kids in one place by being the only school in town. Sora was already in his seat, next to Tidus and Zack, when the teacher came in holding a little boy's hand. They made it to the front of the class and the teacher introduced the new student. "Class I would like you to meet our new student, Riku. He is new to this school so be nice to him and show him around. Riku please go and take a seat by the window." Sora heard quite sobs when Riku passed by his desk. Riku had short silver hair that covered his eyes. Unlike the other students wearing a uniform, Riku had a black and white stripe shirt with blue jeans. The teacher placed Riku behind Sora and headed back to the front. The kids got back to cutting out pictures and Riku just sat in his seat. Sora couldn't help but stare at the new kid. Something about Riku made Sora want to talk to him. Riku seemed so sad and Sora wanted to help out. He grabbed the star he was cutting out and headed his direction.

"Why are you crying?"

"Go away!"

"Are you ok?"

"I said, Go Away!"

"Here! I made this for you."

"What is it?"

"Is a star, for good luck! You can have it."

"Thank you"

A few dark clouds starting forming above their heads. It was getting late and Sora was surprise at how fast time had gone. They had scheduled to walk around town and maybe go swimming but a weather forecast canceled their visit to the pool. So instead they found themselves in the park. Normally Riku acted perverted, cocky, and not to mention like a jerk, but not when they visited the park. All the stone fortresses that protected and hardened Riku, seemed to crumble with a single step in the park. Riku and Sora had been best friends from the moment they first met. Sleeping over, eating lunch, playing in the park, they did everything together. It was a normal friendship until they entered High School. Riku's hormones started to kick in. He grew taller, developed firm muscles, and became the school's hottie. His money and looks made him the most popular student. Sora grew only but a few inches, remained skinny, and kept his low popularity status in the "Circle of High School." Sora felt lucky to have Riku as a friend. Tidus was the captain of the Blitzball team and Zack had a job, so he barely got to see them. The bond he shared with Riku broke the loneliness in his life.

"Look up there…" said Sora calmly, breaking the silence. He was pointing at a lightning strike in the distance. Riku didn't bother to look. He was to busy looking at Sora's hair, swimming back and forth in the blue waves of wind. A smile appeared in Riku's face without him even knowing. He kept on looking at Sora until he heard his voice. "Hey Riku…RIKU!" screamed Sora, waking him up from his trance. "You OK? You haven't said OR done anything perverted to me for a whole hour now, and it is really scaring me".

Riku took a minute to wipe the drool in his chin. He stopped pushing the swing and softly whispered in Sora's ear, sending a shock wave through his body. "If you want me to act naughty just tell me Soraaa!"

"That's not it, it's just scary when you don't try to harass me. It's not like YOU" Sora said in a shaky voice, backing up with his feat and knocking Riku to the ground. How did he get so close to me without me noticing!

"HEY what was that for!? That hurt!" complained Riku after hitting the grass.

"That was payback for pushing me earlier." Sora got down the swing and tried to catch his breath.

"I also gave you a backrub, so get those hands of yours ready for rubbing." Riku gave up trying to get up and rested his back in the grass. He had a perfect view of Sora's body from down there and simply stared in silence.

"That's the Riku we all know and love, where have you been all this time?" said Sora with a smirk. No reply from Riku made Sora question whether he was really serious about the backrub. He wasn't planning on finding out so he said. "Riku, I think we should be heading home now, it looks like it's going to rain."

There was no answer; Riku looked Sora in the eyes from the ground. The only source of light came from a light post near by in the now soundless environment. All the light posts had gone off with that lightning strike earlier except one. Half of Sora's face was lighted and Riku could see the welcoming and innocent look in his eye. "Please Sora, just give me a chance to show you… how I really feel about you." Sora knew were all of this was leading to and was about to put an end to it until Riku grabbed his hand and pulled him down. "So what do you say, Sora?"

Sora's body was now on top of Riku. Riku kept pulling Sora closer until they were face to face. Riku, what are you trying to do???!!!!

Riku focused on Sora's lips, "Sora, you know I love you right" No other person makes me feel the way you do. Riku tightened his grip on Sora. He was tire of always being turned down by the person he wanted most and made up his mind to not let him go this time.

"Riku please let me go! You're hurting me! Sora knew this wasn't right but he couldn't get free from Riku. Please someone help me, if I don't stop him now… I don't know what'll happen. As soon as Riku was going to make contact with Sora's lips, a downpour of water fell from the sky. Riku loosened his grip and Sora quickly rose up and started walking off.

The words coming from Riku were rippled by the sounds of raindrops now hitting Sora's face. Raindrops and tears streamed down Sora's cheek, creating a deep river of water. Why…am I crying? The thunderous hum of tree branches moving against tides of wind broke Sora's thought. He just wanted to get as far away as possible from Riku. He knew his mom would probably start a search party for him if he didn't show up, so he decided to hurry home. He would rather go through an interrogation of where his has been all this time than to deal with Riku. He ignored the screams behind him and started running.

"Please Sora, wait up!!! Don't do this" Riku was running like a scared kid being chase by a dog. His desperate need to apologize and make things right again clouded his head. You fucking jerk, what were you thinking? He might never talk to you after trying to force him into a kiss!

Sora heard the splashes of water getting closer and started to run with watery eyes and lost of reason. He was just about to reach his house until he heard one loud splash. He turned around and found Riku in the floor. Riku? Sora found himself running back to aid his friend. All the feelings of confusion and anger were washed away.

Riku's face was facing the floor and his back was expose to the rain. Why even bother anymore? He's probably gone by now. A small sob came out from Riku and vibrated through the air, piercing everything in its range. The fall was nothing compare to the pain he felt for loosing Sora. All this time he had known Sora, all his temptation and desperation had never gotten the best of him. What now??? What if he never wants to talk to me again!!!??? What would I be without him??? With closed eyes he cursed himself, and accepted loosing his best friend forever.

A soft hand with warm fingers made its way to Riku's hair. The wind had become gentle but the rain kept on falling. Low whispered words came from the angel's lips. "Riku are you okay?" The devil in the ground opened his eyes. Light-colored tears fell to the ground, calming his raging flame.

"I'm sorry Sora, please forgive me." Riku got up and hugged Sora. Is Riku crying, because of me? That feeling of guilt came back. He had never, in all his years with Riku, seen him cry. Sora couldn't help but shed more tears. He had been crying for a while now but the tears that came out after hearing his best friend cry were different. They caused pain. Sora wished he could magically go back and change his reaction. Riku was wrong for trying to force him into a kiss but Sora shouldn't have walked away. He should have been more comprehensive of his feelings. Sora told Riku everything was okay.

Sora raised Riku from the floor, "Can you walk?"

Riku grabbed on to Sora's back and replied, "Yeah, but it hurts a bit."

Sora didn't want to take him to his house because of the questions his mom would ask but he didn't know where else to go. Riku lived to far and they couldn't just stay outside in the rain. Sora helped Riku walk and they headed to Tidus' house.

Men With Two Hearts