Hello, my children of the candied corn. If you're reading this, thanks! My sister has been playing a lot of the Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, and despite the events in the game, I love the Riku X Sora pairing. (I choose to call it Soraru, despite how incorrect it might be). This story is mainly Riku and Sora, yet there may be hints of some super-secret pairings. Get ready for them! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and the ones to come. Love you, candy corn.

gf

Chapter One: I Sea You

The smell of salty water invaded my nose, dulling my senses as I inhaled and sending me into a state of mild euphoria. I let out a sigh, blue eyes fluttering closed as I puffed out air, basking in the soft glow of the sun and feeling the cool sea-spray against my skin. After a moment of this freedom, I opened my eyes once more, scanning my surroundings hastily, wanting to absorb everything quickly and be able to memorize it forever.

It was a view to die for, gentle blue waves lapping at the sides of the ship, the yellow, glowing sun looming overhead, and the islands in the distance. It was funny, really, how an island can seem so vast when you're on it, yet when you're at sea it's lush foliage can look like a mere shrub moored in the water. I let out a little chuckle at this thought, slipping down from my perch on the gunwale and landing on the bow with a light thud.

Adjusting to the abrupt change in position, I took a few deep breaths, getting used to the steady rocking before I dared to step forward. At that same moment, I could hear somebody leaving the stern, making their way across the port to where I was standing.

Startled, I collected myself, brushing my hands on my red board shorts and clasping them behind my back, preparing my best smile for whoever was coming.

It's not like I really had to be nervous or anything, yet my mind set me off in this weird tangent whenever there was more than one person in my company. I was never sure who would walk in, so I always felt the need to be presentable.

There were two people on the boat, my redhead friend Kairi, and my best friend, Riku. To be quite honest, I was comfortable around both of them, so there was no legitimate excuse for my self-conscious tendencies. Realizing this, I let myself relax, arms crossing over my chest, masking the graphic image of street-fighter Cinderella.

It was Riku, who rounded the corner, silver tresses flowing and billowing out as he walked against the breeze. Cobalt eyes seemed to glint in the sunlight, and when he saw me he gave me a bright, pearly smile.

"Hey, Sora I was getting a bit worried!" He said, and by the tone of his voice I could tell he was preparing a snide remark.

"Oh..?" I questioned, arching an eyebrow and glancing at him skeptically. "Why would you be worried, my dear friend?"

I could see his mouth twitch, trying to keep from breaking into another one of his grins. He sighed, putting on a slight pout and shrugging. When he looked back at me he had a stupid little smirk on his face.

"Oh, you were just so quiet out here! You usually can't go a mere five seconds without chatting, so after around five minutes of silence I couldn't help but be worried for my best-est friend!"

He bat his eyelashes at me, lower lip poked out in an exaggerated pout. I frowned at him for a moment, but couldn't stay mad at him for long. I bounded over, punching his arm lightly and scolding him in that same old playful way. After a while we both hoisted ourselves onto the gunwale and just enjoyed the breeze.

"Hey, the suns going down.." Riku said, his voice abnormally quiet.

I glanced over at him, eyes flickering up and down over his pale features, which were illuminated in shades of gold. I smiled lightly, the corner of my mouth turning upwards. He looked over at me, and by instinct I looked away.

"So we'll be heading back..?" I offered up, the silent request for directive evident in my voice.

Riku nodded, letting out a little grunt of affirmation. We sat there for a moment longer, before I decided to go and Tell Kairi this information. So I slipped down onto the bow once more, adjusting to the rocking like I had done countless times before. I made my way through the starboard and down to the stern, before I made my way into the bridge.

And there was the might Captain Kairi, manning the ship from within! She looked a bit sick, but that was understandable. She was prone to sea sickness, after all. I reached over to the hook that was nailed in beside the door, snatching our make-shift Captain Hook hat and plopping it on her head.

Kairi's knee-jerk reaction was to freak out, spazzing slightly and causing the boat to both speed up and turn abruptly. Aside from my laughter and Kairi's curses, I could hear an odd squeal as Riku lost balance and fell from the gunwale. The thud that followed made me clutch my cramping belly, for I knew the silver haired teen had face planted into the hard fiberglass decking.

Kairi fumed for a moment longer before a snort and a slight chuckle escaped her lips.

"Sora, you idiot! I would have killed you if Riku went overboard" She scolded, setting the boat into its regular path.

I just kept smiling. Smiling like an idiot, as if there was nothing wrong with the world.

But there was, and sooner or later I would have to face that, yet for now I could think of nothing but the positive. All I could focus on were the happy details, like how pretty Kairi and Riku looked when then smiled, and how everything was perfect when I could get them to laugh.

My mind, at this stage, couldn't bring itself to pay attention to the darker side of things. The 'soot' lining, as my uncle used to say. I didn't pay attention to how Riku would sigh, or how his eyes would fog over when he thought for too long. I didn't let myself see it when Kairi would cry, and I would pretend like everything was perfect.

But it wasn't.

No matter how good things may seem, it's all just leading up to something terrible, something that will break our hearts and make us admit to all the darkness there. We meet so many good, great people, yet there are times when they break and get us to see others in a new light. While some are as pure as the bluest skies, others are crude and heartless. And we all have to learn this the hard way.

I have, Riku has, and even Kairi has.

Yet, at this moment, I wanted to be free. When we were out on the water like this, I felt a sort of serenity I have never comprehended before. Ever since the start of this summer all of the darkness in our hearts has been masked over and cleansed, and as long as we're out on the sea, we are happy.

Until the sun starts to fall from its perch among the clouds, and we must return to our life among the heartless.

Kairi noticed the setting sun before I could snap out of my thoughts and tell her about it. I rejoined Riku at the front of the ship, where we both sat in silence. The soothing waves were calming, and before I knew it, a head hit my shoulder, it's owner fast asleep.

By the time we had reached the port, and I had roused Riku from his unconscious state, the sun had touched down on the horizon, staining the skies pink.

We docked our ship, the darling Highwind, furling her sails and mooring her in place.

Well, my children of the candy corn, welcome to the Florida Keys! Yeah, yeah what a boring place to live, right? Actually... it was pretty nice. These small islands are an after-thought to most Floridians, but we didn't nick name them the Paradise Islands for nothing!

Well... We don't actually call it that. With its exotic beauty, we should really take it into consideration, but some idiot went the spiritual route, and now all of the residents call them the 'destiny islands', as if somebody will actually find the answer to life problems, or find their life's calling in a vacation hot-spot like this.

After all was said and done, We went on our way, taking our bikes from where we had locked them to the board-walk and cycling home.

And that's it. That's when a beautiful, nautical day turned so dark, so cruel. The second the sun went down, the second we reached our neighborhood, that's when ignoring the darkness was no use.

That when you had no choice but to fight the heartless.

So.. yeah, I hope you fans out there like this. My story probably sucks, as do my others, yet I am happy to provide any sort of entertainment! Reviews are LOVED, but please don't flame! I probably have a bunch of typos, but that's just 'cuz I'm betaless, so please bare with me.