Oh, what do I have to say for myself this time...?

This was sort of done on a whim, and because as far as I know, no one has heard of RikuXOlette. ...Hey... if no one heard of it... I JUST STARTED A NEW CRACK PAIRING FANBASE! I AM QUEEN OF RIKUXOLETTE! WOO! ...Yeah, I know, probably not.

I wanted to do this for the 4th of July, but I didn't have any inspiration, and I went out of town so I had no computer. Buuut I don't think anyone will care.

I also need to write something non-Organization/Demyx related for once.

And I need to prove that I can be nice to Riku when I want to be. This is really my main reason.

Anyway, enjoy, and Happy (Very Late) Birthday America!

I no own Kingdom Hearts

"Here! Here! Guys, let's sit here!"

"Hayner, the beach isn't going anywhere!" Sora yelled, trying to catch up to the blonde. "We can see the fireworks from any place!"

It had only been a few months since the defeat of Organization XIII. Once returning home, Sora and Kairi invited their friends from other worlds to visit their home for a holiday known as the 4th of July (this had to be explained to those who were from worlds where the holiday didn't exist). Sure, summer had pretty much ended in Twilight Town, but no one said that was the case for Destiny Islands, explaining Hayner's behavior.

"Hayner, chill out!" Pence yelled after Sora.

"Chill out? How can I chill out?!" Hayner laughed madly. "We've been given another chance at freedom man! No school for us!"

"...You do know you're going to have to go back, right?" Kairi said, setting up a lawn chair for herself

"Kairi...!" Hayner whined. "Don't ruin my moment! I mean, how often am I going to be surrounded by mermaids..." He pointed a spot of red head hair swimming towards a young black haired man. "...pirates..." He pointed to a black-sailed ship off the coast. "...dynasty warriors..." He pointed to a young Chinese woman setting up a rig of fireworks. "...and a genie!" He pointed to a large blue man with no legs performing magic tricks for some of Sora's friends.

"Right right..." Pence said. "Hayner, I know this is a life-changing moment for you, but you need... to..."

Kairi blinked. "Pence?"

Pence faced her with a look of realization. "Where's Olette?"

"I dunno..." Sora said. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Riku either."

"WHAT?!" Hayner cried. "But Olette had the cooler full of sea salt ice cream!"

"Is food all you can think about?" Kairi said.

Riku watched his friends from a distance, sitting at the top of Destiny Islands' treehouse. Tidus would normally be found practicing sword fighting there, but with it being a holiday it left the loft unoccupied, and just for him.

He never did well with social gatherings to this extent. Why did his friends have to invite so many people? He didn't want to deal with something like this. Emo? ...Perhaps, but he wouldn't admit to that so quickly.

Riku was contemplating whether he should go back down or stay where he was when a loud and long growl came from his stomach. Go down where there was food and talkative friends, or stay up and continue to be hungry and anti-social...? The choice seemed to tear him in two. He worked on his anti-hero persona for the longest time; he couldn't jepordize that just because his stomach was a traitor.

His thought's were interupted by something cold dripping down and hitting him square in the face. He jumped back in suprise, then brought a finger to his forehead and wiped off the offending drop. It had a baby blue color, and seemed quite familiar to him. Without a second thought, Riku brought it to his lips and tasted it.

It tasted strongly of sea salt.

Little known fact about Riku; ever since his first encounter with the frozen dairy treat, he had been an addict ever since. Now, fueled by his hunger and curiosity to see where it came from, he sat up to search for the owner of the cold summer treat.

Then, came a voice.

It wasn't like someone was singing; it was more like humming. Either way, Riku knew that song quite well, but its was clearly not the band that had sung it in the first place. It was a crisp, feminine voice that came from above him on another level of the treehouse. That was it, he decided. Whoever was up there had the ice cream.

"Who's up there?" Riku asked. When the person above realized someone had heard them, they let out a quiet gasp and fell silent, hoping not to be noticed. This was a tatic Riku knew very well; he practically invented it for crying out loud!

There was one way to get to the second level of the treehouse. The second level itself was secret, even to Tidus who spent most of his time there. When you reach the top of the set of stairs leading to the first level, there's a patch of vines to the side; move the vines away, and you can get to the second level.

That went through Riku's head as he stared at the few torn off vines at his feet.

Whoever was up there heard Riku' footsteps as he walked up the stairs, the floor creaking with every step. As a simple gesture to show he meant no harm, he whistled the next verse of the song. His voice wasn't fantastic, but he could at least carry a tune.

Riku paused, waiting for the other to make their move. He heard the shuffling of feet, the sound quickly replaced by the other's humming once more.

He felt himself quicken as he ran up the stairs. His previous hunger had subsided, leaving him driven by his curiousity to meet this mystery girl. In its own way, she was his mystery girl. He was the only one around to hear her, he was the only one to discover her prescence, so why wouldn't it make sense that she was his?

He could finally see the top. There was barely no light at the end, what with the sky getting darker, but it was still bright enough to see...

...or at least it seemed that way until Riku tripped on the top stair.

"...Ow..." he mumbled into the wood. "Stupid stair..."

"Riku! Are you OK?"

Riku brought his face up, his wide sea green eyes meeting dark hazel ones. "...Olette?"

It was Olette. Her brown hair was dangling in front of his face, and her orange tank top was lightly brushing against his arm. She backed away and helped Riku off the ground. "Are you alright, Riku?"

"Yeah... I think so..." he said, rubbed a kink out of the back of his neck.

"Oh, that's good... but I honestly didn't expect it was you down below."

"Same to you." Riku said. "What are you doing up here anyway? I thought you'd be down with the others."

Olette shrugged. "I guess I just don't do well at parties, same as you I'm guessing?" She smirked, seeing Riku turn a faint shade of pink. "Want some ice cream?" she asked, pointing to a blue cooler in the corner.

"Oh, yeah!" Riku cried in glee, running toward the box, pulling out the wondorous blue bar. "Man, this stuff is good..."

"Glad you like it. This one's an old family recipe actually." Olette said. "That's why we never actually buy the ice cream anymore. Doesn't taste the same."

"Ah."

They sat together in silence for some time, eating their ice cream. They occasionally snuck glances when the other wasn't looking, but nothing more than that.

Riku felt an odd sense of comfort around Olette, one comepletely different than with Sora and Kairi. He seemed to recall feeling like this around Kairi when they were little, when he had that crush on her and...

...Waaaiiit.

Crush? Crush?! When did that happen? It couldn't have been over a simple ice cream bar, that's just ridculous! Then again... Olette was awfully pretty... and she did seem very lonely. Not to mention the setting was absolutely perfect. How much better could it get than night time at a fireworks show?

His thoughts were again interupted by Olette, who let lose a quiet shiver, rubbing her arms. Riku smirked, and shrugged off his vest, wrapping it around the girl next to him. She jumped and let out a small squeak. "R-Riku?! I-Its OK, I'm fine, real-"

"Olette, its fine, I don't mind." Riku smiled. "You need it more than I do."

"O-Oh..." the brunette stuttered, looking down with a bright red face. It was only then she realized she was staring at Riku's chest (which was, as I'm sure some of you crazy fangirls have noticed, was pretty muscular).

The next few minutes were spent in silence, due to Olette's sudden awkwardness, and Riku's constant awkwardness. The glances from before happened more frequently, blue-gree eyes meeting hazel ones most of the time. Now, Riku loved silence, he really did, especially when it was Sora's silence. But this was just getting out of hand! He was using most of his engery not already being put into eating to restrain himself from saying something stupid and making an idiot of himself.

Thankfully, he would no longer have to do that. "...You..."

Riku's hair whipped his neck as his head jerked to the girl. "Huh?"

Olette looked down the edge in thought, not daring to meet his gaze. "...You... remind me of him, Riku..."

"Remind you? ...of who?"

"You know... Roxas..."

Riku's eyes widened. Now there's an answer he certaintly wasn't expecting. "But how do you kn-?"

"The me that knew Roxas may have only been virtual, but it was still me." Olette said. "When Pence was helping Sora with that computer -you know, the one in the old mansion?- he found recordings of the four of us together. We all seemed really happy, but when I looked at it..."

Riku's curiousity was growing rapidly. "When you looked at it what?"

Olette's hands waved in the air as she tried to explain herself. "It was like... I knew that Roxas knew he didn't belong with us, you know?" she said. "And... that made me think of you."

And lo, another unexpected answer for Riku. "...Eh?"

"Riku." Olette's eyes poured into his so greatly he couldn't move. "Isn't that how you feel too? For some reason, you feel like you don't belong?"

"...Wow..." Riku chuckled. "I think you know me better than I do, Olette."

Olette gave her own little laugh, before her eyes glazed off into the distance again. "You don't have to feel like that you know." Riku saw her scoot closer to him. "There are always going to be people who care about you and want you to stay with them..."

She took this moment to slip her hand into his own.

"...even if you don't realize it."

Riku's eyes flared open. "Ole-"

The brunette paused him by placing her hand in front of his face. "I know what you're gonna say, so you don't need to. But here..." She slipped a small slip of paper into his free hand.

Riku's eyes scanned the paper he had been given, until he finally looked back at Olette with a smirk. "'Call me or the ice cream will give you a cursed ulcer'?"

Olette's smile grew larger. "It will never leave your stomach!" She cried, shaking her fist in the air.

They had a good laugh about it, but soon found it time for the fireworks to begin. They came closer together for warmth, watching colors light up the sky for seconds and letting their hearing be blocked out by the sound of explosions. Riku was, however, able to hear the heartbeat of the girl next to him, perfectly in tune with the constant booming above them.

He thought he had lost his heart long ago, but now knew that wasn't true, as she heard his as well.

...I really don't know what I was thinking as I wrote this. I'll probably edit some of it later, but for now, enjoy the Rikette-ness of it all.