Aeris sighed, looking across the endless shimmering ocean that surrounded Destiny Islands. Sora was right; the Destiny Island was amazing in the summer, especially when the sunlight hit it right.

Paradise.

It was simply paradise, Aeris sighed as she leaned back on her palms.

Stretching her limbs out before her as she sat on the balcony of the tree house was tiring after sitting there all morning trying go get a sun tan, and failing. Casting her emerald green eyes to the clear, cloudless sky, her feet swinging back and forth, she pondered what to do – everyone else was busy.

Kairi and Selphie had dragged Yuffie off to go clothes shopping with them – something the ninja would no doubt hate. Sora and Riku had run off to see the latest action-thriller movie that was in town; Leon and Cloud had agree quickly; who'd want to shop with giggly girls? Upon hearing her options, Tifa had agreed to the movies as well.

Aeris had opted out of both, deciding to see the sights of the small Island before heading back to their deserted city.

"I wish I could get Radiant Garden to look like this," Aeris mused, a Pelican flying over her head to perch on the Papou Trees.

The Papou Tree's – that was one thing she was curious about. She'd love to see someone try it out . . . she rolled her eyes; Sora and Kairi could be so clueless to one another. When she got back to Radiant Garden, she'd have to ask Merlin if he could help her try to recreate the beauty of the town – or at least in her backyard.

"It's so peaceful here; we should definitely come back here more often! It's so cheerful!"

Moving her emerald eyes out to the sea, Aeris saw it. There, out on the small islet was a shimmer in the water.

Was someone out there playing? She immediately thought of Namine and Roxas, were they back yet? She doubted it though; didn't Namine have tickets for some concert? Aeris shrugged, she didn't know.

"It could be an adventure," she mused, clapping her hands together with a grin.

She never got to go on any of the adventures in Radiant Garden; she always had to stay in Merlin's house, healing them when they returned. How boring! She shook her head, as she pushed herself up into a standing position, starting down the wooden bridge. She supposed it was just Tidus and Wakka, but something told her otherwise.

It was mystery that needed to be solved.

"Maybe staying here wasn't all that bad," Aeris said, the sand between her toes. "I get the Island – and a mystery – all for myself."

The white sand kicked up from her footsteps as she made her way over to the old shack's door. She carefully opened the door, slipping back into her sandals, and grabbing the bottom of her pink dress, raced up the curved staircase.

"Now, where have you gone?" Aeris called in a sing-song voice, exiting the small shack.

She squinted her eyes in the sunlight, bringing a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun. It was brighter up here then she had expected, less shade. As she made her away across the wooden bridge, her eyes set on the small islet. She frowned as she got closer – expect for the Papou Tree's . . . no one was there.

Aeris stopped at the end of the bridge, hands on her hips as she frowned. They . . . disappeared? Could that have been possible?

Splash!

Okay, so the person was still there.

That was a good sign. Grinning, Aeris kicked off her sandals, wanting to feel the dirt and grass beneath her, as she made her way across the islet, listening to the splashing of water.

She froze when she saw it, her eyebrow raising it at first, slowly becoming entranced.

She noticed that a blonde haired boy, cloaked in black with his back to her, leaned against the rickety old wooden ladder, moving his hand lazily before him. Aeris watched, mesmerized as he moved his hand this way and that, the water before him taking form and moving with his hand.

All the while, he never noticed her standing a foot behind him.

After a couple minutes, Aeris shook her head. "I wish I could do that – could you teach me?"

Surprised, the water splashed back into the ocean as he lost his concentration. Slowly, he turned around to face her, a smirk on his features as he looked up at the brunette. Aeris blinked, his cerulean blue eyes holding gaze with her emerald ones.

"How long have you been there?"

Aeris grinned, moving to sit on the edge of the islet. "A little while," she shrugged. "How do you do that? I've never seen that magic ability before."

He grinned at her, pulling her ponytail. "It's not a magic ability."

Aeris frowned, pulling her long ponytail from his hands. "Then, I guess you won't be able to teach me, huh?"

He sighed, leaning back against the ladder, looking up at her. "I've seen you somewhere before, where are you from?"

"Hallow, no, Radiant Garden."

He shrugged, looking away from her to the ocean. "Never heard of it."

Aeris fell silent, watching him idly wave his hand before him, a stream of water following his hand, changing shapes constantly. "What's your name?" he eventually asked.

Aeris jumped, coming back to her senses. "Hmm? Oh, my name's Aeris." She narrowed his eyes at him as he snorted. "What's so funny?"

"You mean like the horoscope creature, Aries?" He snickered, throwing a look at her. "If I tell you my sign can you tell me my fortune?"

Aeris rolled her eyes. "I'm not a fortune cookie," she commented idly, waving her hand at him. "You haven't told me yours yet either."

"It's Demyx. Say, what's your favourite thing, Aeris?"

"Favourite thing?" she echoed, pausing slightly. "Well, I like to plant flowers, I used to run a flower shop."

"What kind of flower do you like best?" Aeris shrugged. "Roses? Girl's like those right?"

Aeris laughed. "I suppose they do, I like Lilies though."

"Lilies, well then, let's see what happens."

Aeris raised an eyebrow, but smiled as she saw Demyx wave a hand before him idly, glancing up at her for her reaction. A stream of water rose from the ocean, and as he waved his hand, the stream of water changed form from Roses to Lilies, the Lily pausing in front of Aeris.

"Whoa," Aeris mused, reaching out a hand to touch the water flower, jumping slightly as it fell to nothing at her touch. "Do you think you could teach me?"

"It's not exactly something easy to learn," Demyx shrugged. "I've been able to do it forever."

Aeris frowned, swinging her legs back and forth. "You're no fun."

Demyx shot her a glance. "Of course I'm fun, you haven't seen anything yet."

Aeris grinned widely at him, before slipping down from the small islet, the water pooling around her ankles, pushing him. Demyx let out a curse as he fell face first into the water, his spiky hair flopping in his eyes as he glared at Aeris. "That was mean."

Aeris just stuck her tongue out at him before jumping into the water as well.

---

Yuffie scrunched her nose up, flopping down onto the sand in the unpopular cove on the Island. "I hate shopping – if you ever make me shop with Selphie again, I swear I'll pound her."

Kairi shrugged, leaning against a Papou Tree. "Admit it, that was fun."

"Yeah . . . right . . ." Yuffie mumbled, rolling her eyes. "Say Squall, where's Aeris?"

Leon shrugged. "She should be here. Maybe something happened to her, she's never late."

"Aeris can take care of herself," Tifa retorted, hands on her hips. "I've seen her fight."

"Aeris? Can she actually fight?" Yuffie commented. "I've only seen her use healing abilities."

Tifa sighed, shaking her head. "How else does she get from Merlin's House to, well, anywhere back home, healing abilities wouldn't help much."

"Hey!" Aeris called, coming around the corner, waving. "Sorry, I lost track of time!"

"Where were you?" Leon said when the brunette stopped beside them. "Why are you all wet?"

Aeris shrugged, grinning widely. "I went swimming – what else?"

"By yourself, but that's no fun," Yuffie whined, wrinkling her nose up. "I would have gone with you – that would have been fun!"

Aeris just shook her head. "I wasn't alone, I met someone."

Yuffie perked up slightly. "Who? No one else was on the Island . . ."

Aeris just shook her head as she moved towards the Gummi Ship, hands clasped behind her back. "That's my secret, Yuffie," she called over her shoulder. "He said he'd come and visit me though, so you might get lucky."

I hope you do come by Demyx, Aeris thought, waving Cid off as he complained about her wet clothes ruining his baby. You still have to teach me that trick . . .