The Mystery of The Missing Paopu Fruit

The morning sun was burning bright in the afternoon sky, giving the ocean a sparkling effect like a diamond held up in the light. Seagulls cawed and flapped their wings, flying through the pasty blue sky and the slight breeze made the atmosphere cooler on this hot, summer day. For once the Destiny Islands were at peace. Too bad our heroic, gravity defying haired keyblade master wasn't...

"Ugh!" Sora groaned in frustration, sitting up from his laying down position so fast he nearly fell of the tree branch he was resting on. "I'm so bored!" He whined childishly. Some things, like Sora's immaturity, never changed.

"Then do Something about it." Came the matter-of-fact response of none other than his silver haired friend, Riku.

"But there's nothing to do!" Sora screeched in a very high pitched and rather unmanly voice.

"Ever since the worlds were brought to peace and our battle with Xemnas, everything else just sounds so...kiddish..." He paused, searching for the right word only to come up with one that didn't really exist.

"This coming from the guy who wanted to play tag yesterday?"

"Shut up, you're just mad because I made you be 'it' and you couldn't catch me." The brunet said, sticking his tongue out at Riku who just rolled his eyes at his best friend's childish antics.

"Anyway," Riku scoffed, trying to get back to their previous subject. "So what, now that the worlds are safe and there's no big, evil organization trying to kill you and flood the universe in darkness you're bored cause you have nothing to do?" Riku said slowly, making sure he understood what his friend was saying. "Are you trying to say that you want the world to go back into utter and complete chaos?"

"Yes!" He shouted in a breathy exclamation, Riku jumping slightly. He had been joking.

"I mean, I'm happy that the worlds are at peace and all, but it just makes me feel so useless. Sitting here on the islands, doing nothing. I mean, I'm the keyblade master!"

"Your point?" Riku asked after a long pause of silence.

"I guess I'm saying that I want something exciting to do. Something that will give me that rush of adrenaline, ya know?"

Riku nodded. He did know. He had been kind of restless ever since they got back from saving the worlds. He was itching for that familiar feeling but he was still happy here. Happy to finally be home with his family, friends, and most importantly Sora.

"Hey Riku," The brunet asked suddenly, breaking the older boy from his train of thought. His voice sounded less whining, as if he had found the answers to cure his boredom.

"What is it?" Riku turned his head to see his friend looking up, clearly distracted by whatever he was staring at.

"Haven't there always been three Paopu fruits in the tree?" Sora said, making Riku look at him oddly.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well now there are only two."

Riku followed his friend's eyes, looking up to where two paopu fruits were side by side, the usual third one that seemed to have been there since the beginning of time gone

"So what? Maybe it fell off or something." Riku said, shrugging it off. Sora gave him dumbstruck look, as if Riku had grown a second head.

"Fell off? Riku those things are practically glued the the tree there's no way one just fell off." Sora explained as if Riku were a five year old who just asked why know one had ever seen Santa Claus alive and in person. Well, except for Sora.

"Then maybe someone picked one. You know, to do the whole destiny intertwin-y thing that paopus are so famous for." Riku muttered, waving his hand around as if trying to visualize it.

"But who? I mean, no one's really gotten together since we got back to the islands and I swear it was there yesterday. Where did it go?"

"Maybe someone plans on confessing to a crush?" Riku suggested, making Sora's eyes glow in determination.

"I know what we can do! Riku, let's find out who took the paopu!" Sora shouted happily, hopping down from the paopu tree. "We can be like detectives solving a crime!"

"Isn't that kind of like invading other peoples privacy? Besides, it's not like taking a paopu is illegal, they're there for anyone to take." Riku said, making Sora's idea sound dumb. The brunet, of course, ignored him. Leading him towards their first suspect. Well, not really. More like the first person Sora saw, which happened to be Selphie.

"Hey Selphie." Sora started, taking out a note pad and a pen he had just magically pulled out of his pocket. It was almost like he had planned this...

"Oh, hey Sora, Riku. What are you guys doing?"

"Cut the chit chat Selph. Where were you between 6:45 PM last night and 10 AM this morning?" He asked, probably picking a random time from the last time he saw the missing fruit.

"Sora, there's no need to be so demanding." Riku said, running his hand through his silver hair, combing the silky strands out with his fingers. This was turning out like a bad game of Good cop, Bad cop...

"Umm...I was at my house. Why, did something happen?" She asked, seeming very confused. I didn't blame her.

"Actually yes," Sora said with a weird accent, trying to sound like those detectives he's seen on T.V. "It seems that the third paopu fruit on that tree by the shore has gone missing."

"A paopu fruit?"

"Yes, we were wondering if you-" He tried to say, only to be cut off by the girl's high pitched squeal.

"Oh, Sora! Are you trying to say that you want to share one with me?" She said in a girly, lovestruck voice.

"Wha...I didn't say that!" He yelled, his face heating up. Haha, fail Sora.

"Oh, don't be shy. I'd love to share one with you, really, but I'm waiting for Tidus to give me one..." She said, trailing off about how Tidus was her prince charming and he would surely present her with one any day now.

"Tidus huh?" Sora pondered, rubbing his chin with his index finger and thumb as if there was an imaginary beard there. "I see, thanks Selphie!"

And with that, both boys left, leaving the over dramatic brunette girl to talk to herself about how much her and Tidus were meant to be together. It would probably be hours until she realized they weren't there.

Riku continued to follow Sora gruffly, waiting for him to get bored with playing detective so they could go back to there nap by the shoreline. This wasn't really the kind of rush of adrenaline he was looking for.

"Yo, Tidus!" Sora called, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify the sound. Tidus looked up from his game of blitz ball with Wakka at the mention of his name.

"Yeah? What's up?" He shouted back, running over to where the two boys were standing, Wakka not far behind him.

"Did you take a paopu fruit from the tree?" Sora asked, eying the blond boy suspiciously.

"No, why?"

"Cause one went missing and Sora's being a total doofus trying to find out who took it." Riku replied before the brunet had the chance to, elbowing him in the side at the word 'doofus'.

"Well I didn't take one. Neither did Wakka, sorry."

"That's fine..." Sora sighed, walking away from the two.

Riku and Sora continued to walk down the shores, waves crashing at their bare feet. Sora's finger was on his chin, thinking hard- which wasn't something he usually did -about who could have swiped the yellow, star shaped fruit.

"Who could it have been..." He muttered, mostly to himself.

This had evolved from a game to distract the teen from his boredom to a full out quest lead on by his own curiosity. Riku swore that one day Sora's curiosity would kill him, just like it did to Riku's cat, Mr. Fluffypants. Okay, so that was a really dumb name for a pet but Riku was five...

"Well, maybe Kairi knows?" Riku shot out eagerly, maybe a little too eagerly.

Sora narrowed his eyes, noticing this sudden change of attitude. The two boys made there way over to where the red headed girl was sitting.

"Hey Kai," Sora started, skipping, yes skipping, over to his friend. "You wouldn't happen to know the whereabouts of the missing paopu would you?" He asked hopefully, since Kairi was the last one on the island who could have taken it.

"Missing paopu?" She echoed, arching an eyebrow at the brunet. "Nope, haven't seen any." Her glance shifted to Riku and I could have sworn I saw her wink and felt Riku tense beside me.

"Well, thanks anyway Kairi. I guess we should be going." He waved to the redheaded girl as Riku turned on his heel to follow him.

"If it wasn't Kairi who took it then who could it be?" Sora wondered out loud to himself. There wasn't anyone else on the island who could have taken it. Then who could it...

Suddenly Sora froze in his steps. He had forgotten to ask one person. Someone he should have asked from the beginning.

"Sora? Hello, earth to Sora." Riku waved his hand in front of the brain dead brunet.

"Riku." The name dripped off of Sora's lips in a curious tone. Riku stared at his friend, nodding to let him know he heard. "Did...Did you take the paopu fruit?"

Riku looked taken aback and Sora was about to apologize frantically and say he had been joking when the sound of Riku laughing made him freeze up again.

"I wondered when you'd figure it out." The older, silver haired boy said as he pulled out the bright yellow, star shaped fruit.

"You did do it!" Sora exclaimed, confused as to why Riku had the fruit. "But why?"

"Silly Sora." Riku teased holding the paopu up so that one of the points nearly touched the younger boy's nose. "Why else would someone take a paopu?" Riku said, referring to the legend of the fruit.

"If two people share one, their destinies will become forever intertwined..." Sora whispered the legend almost mechanically, barely aware that he had spoken up.

"Exactly." Riku praised. "Now, want to share it?"

Sora looked up, his face tinting a bright pink as the blush spread to his ears. "With...with me?"

"No, I was talking to that turtle over there, of course with you, you doofus!" Riku teased, poking Sora's forehead before splitting the yellow star into two pieces and handing one to his friend.

Sora took the half, staring down at it for a few moments before looking back up at Riku. "But...why? I mean, why do this with me?"

"What, would you rather share one with Kairi." Riku sneered.

"No, not really but...why me?" He asked again, watching as the glimmer in Riku's eyes turned from teasing to serious.

"I guess it's just my way of saying that I like you. A lot. I know we've always been friends, Sora and don't get me wrong, your friendship means the world to me but I just...want to be to be more than that. I...I love you, Sora."

Sora took in everything Riku said, eyes as wide as dinner plates the whole time. Riku liked him? Like, like liked him? He wasn't sure what to say but he did know that the frantic beating of his heart and the way his face had heated up to an almost inhuman temperature meant that he returned the silver haired boy's feelings.

Suddenly, Riku's hand was grabbing Sora's chin, titling it up and Sora did nothing to protest. Even when Riku was inching his face closer and closer Sora didn't pull away. He waited, until their lips brushed against each other.

Sora felt his heart leap in his chest as Riku grabbed his wrist, his other hand on the back of Sora's neck to guide their heads together so that their lips pressed against one another. The kiss didn't taste like cinnamon, or strawberries, or the way they described it in fairy tales it was just...Riku.

After a few minutes Riku pulled away, his hand dropping from caressing the brunet's cheek as it slid back down to his side, paopu still in hand.

"Now, about sharing that paopu fruit?" Riku said with a small grin, bring his half of the fruit to Sora's mouth.

"Huh? O-oh! Right." Sora stuttered with a shy smile, the pink staining his face having yet to disappear. He opened his mouth and allowed the fruit to enter, biting off a chunk as he raised his own half towards Riku's mouth. The silveret mirrored his actions, taking his own bite as he chewed it, forever entangling their destinies.

And that was how Sora solved the mystery of the missing paopu fruit. And we all know that now that he's dating Riku, he'll rarely be bored again.