Sora, now sixteen years old, walked through the woods of Destiny Islands. He was humming to himself and had his hands clasped behind his head, his elbows sticking out. It was a nice day, and he was to meet Kairi in a little nook that was right by a tree with a glowing star. This star was one that needed to be touched in a race that Sora and Riku used to have before returning back to where they started.

Sora exited the woods and climbed onto a rock that jutted out from the stone wall. He hopped from rock to rock, landing on the one that the unique little tree was. He chuckled slightly to himself, then touched the star before climbing into the nook, making it glow. He saw Kairi sitting in their, leaning against the wall.

"Hey," Sora said, sitting down against the wall opposite her. It was cool in here, a nice reprieve from the hot sun outside.

"Hi," Kairi smiled. It was a somewhat strained smile though, Sora noticed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. I just wanted to talk to you."

"What about?" frowned Sora. He began to wonder worriedly if Kairi was breaking up with him. They had been dating for the past five months and Sora was enjoying it immensely.

"Riku," Kairi answered quietly. "I think something's bothering him, but I can't figure it out."

"Do you think….because of us?" Sora said slowly.

Kairi shook her head. "I don't think so. I mean, I know he cares about me and loves me, but I don't think it's in that kind of way. Don't think I've never noticed the way you two used to compete all the time, sometimes for me. I could see that, and it bothered me. However," she sighed, "I think Riku only competed with you about me because he just loved to compete with you, no matter what it was for. I think…I think the kind of love he has for me has always been different than the kind that you've always had. I think of him as a big brother, you know? The same kind of way Tidus and Selphie think about Wakka."

"So, what do you think we should do?" Sora questioned.

"I think you should talk to him."

"Me?" Sora raised his eyebrows. "I don't know, Kairi. I'm not good at this kind of stuff."

"Sure you are. Listen, Sora, I've tried talking to him, but he won't tell me what's bothering him. I'm just thinking that maybe for him, it would be easier if he talked to another guy, not a girl."

Sora ran a hand through his spiky brown hair. He and Riku had mostly grown out the competitiveness they had had with each other, but there was one thing about Riku that Sora still envied, and it was his hair. Not that he could picture himself with Riku's hair instead of his own without laughing, but Sora still wished he could have been born with a cooler set of locks like Riku. He sighed, nodded, and stood up, staying a little hunched over so that he did not hit his head on the roof of the alcove.

"Do you know where he is?" Sora asked as he stooped out of the nook.

"The pier by the boats," Kairi answered, picking up a conch shell and decorating it with pretty jewels.

"That for Selphie's birthday?"

"Yeah. I guess I've always been into making nice things out of ocean life."

Sora grinned as he jumped from the sandy rock to a treetop.

He found Riku a few minutes later sitting on the edge of the pier. His legs were dangling down from it and only hung a few short inches from the ocean waves. He had gotten quite tall. Sora walked down the pier and sat next to him, letting his own legs dangle. They were not as close to the water as Riku's feet were, but they were still closer than they were before Sora was forced off of Destiny Islands to be the bearer of the Keyblade.

"Hi, Riku," Sora said, being careful not to sound too cheerful in case it made Riku not take him seriously enough to tell him what was wrong.

"Hey," Riku muttered, gazing out into the seas. Sora tried to read the expression on his face without making it look like he was staring at Riku, but found that it just looked pensive, if anything.

"You all right?" Sora tried. Riku just nodded. Sora could tell he was definitely upset about something. He could always tell with Riku, but Riku had never liked having people worry about him, and was bound to try to keep whatever was bothering him inside. Sora looked out at the ocean. "I think you're lying," he said lightly.

"And if I am, what business of it is yours?" Riku responded, still gazing straight ahead.

"Because I'm your friend, and friends tell each other when they're not all right."

Sora could feel Riku turn his head to look at him, but Sora stayed focused on looking straight ahead of him.

"So you're saying that whenever I'm unhappy, I should just come crying to you about it, huh?"

Sora looked at him. They were staring each other in the eyes. Though the rest of his face was inscrutable, it was Riku's eyes that gave away his emotions to Sora, who saw a mixture of both fiery anger, and empty sadness.

"Riku, you can always talk to me…about anything," Sora said, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. Riku looked back out at the ocean.

"I don't complain," he said softly. "Complaining leads to self pity."

"Confiding to your best friend about your problems isn't complaining."

"Then what is it?" snapped Riku, jerking his gaze back to Sora.

"It's not called anything, just…friendship." Sora waited a few seconds before asking what he did not want to ask. "Is it about me and Kairi?"

Riku gave a short laugh. "Nah. That actually makes me happy. I've been waiting for the day you guys would hook up. No, it has nothing to do with that."

Sora felt a little relieved. He could tell that Riku was sincere about that, but if that was not what was on his mind, then what was?

"Will you tell me? I promise not to tell anyone," Sora said hopefully.

"And Kairi? You won't tell her?" Riku smirked. Sora did not say anything to that. He would have to tell Kairi. It was her that had wanted him to talk to Riku in the first place. Riku, seeming to have guessed the answer to his question, gave another brusque laugh. "That's what I thought."

"How come Kairi can't know? She even told me she thinks of you as a big brother, and I know you think of her as a little sister. She's smart, Riku. The next time something's bothering her, she'll make sure not to tell you, and if she tells me, then I won't tell you either."

Riku looked concerned. "Do you mean that?"

"Yes, which is why you should talk to me." Sora gave Riku a stern kind of look that made him laugh.

"You look like my mom when she catches me sneaking cookie dough." He sighed, and looked down at the area of pier between his knees. "Sora, I got a letter. It…it was from Yuffie."

"Yu-Yuffie?" Sora said incredulously. He found his heart leap for a moment in excitement, but then drop right back down. Wait a minute, he thought. This had something to do with what was bothering Riku, so it could not be good. "What's up?"

"Well," Riku said quietly, "Leon's been…..captured."

"Captured!" Sora exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "By who? Is he okay? What's going on?"

"Relax a second so I can tell you. You see, I guess trouble's been brewing a while in Hol-I mean, Radiant Garden. A new, different kind of evil's been born by someone there, but they don't know who it is. All they know is that they got a letter from Mickey, saying that the same kinds of things have been happening at Disney Castle as well, only worse and more quickly. They got another letter from Mickey saying that they were keeping themselves locked into the castle, but they were being attacked by a foreign army of some kind. The castle's own army was standing outside the castle and doing their best to stop this evil army from breaching their walls, but they were not having success. So, of course, Leon and Cloud left to help them immediately. They were both there when the letter arrived, and as soon as they finished reading it, they left without telling anyone else, just leaving the letter."

"So what happened?" asked Sora anxiously.

"Well," Riku sighed, "they got there. Leon and Cloud both ended up being a big help, and for a moment, it looked like they were going to win." Riku put his face in his hands and shook his head. "But they didn't. Reinforcements for the foreign army arrived in about twenty Gummi ships. King Mickey saw what was happening out the window, and he led everyone in the castle to a secret launch room where they had everyone flee to Traverse Town. As for Leon and Cloud, well, Leon took a hit from behind and was knocked unconscious, and they began to drag him away. Cloud tried to go after him, but got heavily injured. The only thing Cloud could do was crawl towards the ship that he and Leon had taken to get there. The foreign army had left, apparently only wanting one captive. Besides, it looked to Cloud as if he was going to die anyway. He passed out on the floor of the ship, but regained consciousness. He flew back to Radiant Garden the best he could and told the others what happened. Yuffie says Cloud should be all right, but he's hurt really badly and won't be able to fight for a while. As for Leon…well, they don't know where exactly he is."

Sora slowly sat back down, thinking about everything he had taken in. He suddenly turned to Riku angrily.

"Why would you keep something like this from me?" he interrogated. "They're just as much my friends as they are yours."

"That's not why I kept it from you," Riku whispered. "I kept it from you because…because they think I can help."

"Who?"

"Yuffie and the gang. They say there's something only I have that I can use to help Leon. I wrote back saying I'd come."

"When?"

Riku faced his best friend. "Early tomorrow morning."

"Well, I'm coming with you!" Sora said.

"You know you will have to tell Kairi. I figured there was nothing I'd be able to do to stop you, considering how stubborn you are. That's why I didn't say anything. I don't want you two to worry about me, because I've got a feeling this is going to be dangerous. I will not lose my best friends. You two have already almost been killed before."

"So have you, Riku," Sora said quietly.

"They don't want you involved, Sora. Neither do I. This one's up to me, and if you guys come along to help, you'll die for nothing."

"You know more than you're telling me," Sora said sharply.

"Yeah, I do." Riku stood up, and began to walk back up the pier. "I need to go pack. Stay, Sora! I'll go to your parents if that's what it takes to keep you here."

"I don't want you to die!" Sora called after him, his voice cracking.

"Goodbye, Sora."