I was told not to be tempted by darkness. To lead by my heart. To be honest, that can be difficult. Cause life is filled with a bunch of indecisiveness and uncertainty. But, that's why I got friends, Riku and Kairi. I knew them since childhood and we just about went through everything. Even when we were apart. I knew that we were at least connected by our hearts. That bond can never separate us no matter the force or situation. We'll find each other again somehow. We always do. Every single time.

Now that Xehanort was defeated, we were able to rest back on our home world, Destiny Island. It was small, but it was cozy. lined along the beach were houses. They looked more like shacks actually. When I came back on the island, I realized just how much everything had changed. When all this chaos started, I was fourteen. Young and very much free spirited. My clothes had changed to something more contemporary and my hair style is more flat now then it was back then. Though, it's still spiky. I like that. Also, Riku and Kairi had changed. Riku decided he would cut his hair shorter after we returned from our mastery exams. I asked him about it and he said he got tired of it always getting in his hair. I chuckled by it. Kairi learned how to use the Keyblade, but she didn't really change too much. Overall, we matured quite a bit physically.

While on the topic of changes, something big happened as soon as we returned back to the island. We held a small party right on the beach. All three of us; Kairi, Riku, and myself. We were all in our bathing suits since we had swam in the water for some time. There was tiki torches that Riku got for us all stood up on the beach and lit. It was about twilight. We decided to use that time to sit on the dock, each with sea salt ice cream. The moment felt very intimate. Just us friends hanging out. Like we always had done when we were younger. The feeling was pretty much platonic.

"Well, here's for our united hearts!" I said with my popsicle lifted in the air.

"And for victory over darkness." Riku said with his own lifted popsicle.

"And for friendship!" Kairi said gleefully, doing the same with her popsicle.

In unison, we chanted, "Cheers!"

"I'm glad all of this is finally over." I said with relief. I looked back at both Riku and Kairi. I remembered when we use to do this all the time when we were just kids.

"Same." Kairi said. She finished up her popsicle and got up. "I'm going to leave you two alone. I need to start cleaning up." She went to the shack that was used earlier when we were just hanging out.

And here I was. Alone with Riku. My hand was behind me. Riku must've had his hands behind him cause I accidently touched his. His hands were like smooth leather. As someone who worked often with them, but uses lotion afterwards. I quickly redrew my hands away, slightly embarrassed. I looked at Riku. My face was flush. He looked at me and could tell. Normally, his face would be void of emotion. This time, however, he had a completely different look. One that I hadn't seen before. He looked like a schoolboy who had looked into their crush for the first time.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him nervously.

"No." Riku simply said.

"Then, what is it?" I was very puzzled.

Riku blurted out bluntly, "I love you."

I was wide eyed. I knew he could be blunt, but this was on a totally different level. I searched my heart to see how I felt. We truly had been together ever since our first adventure. He always seemed to be a knight for me. Even in our last adventure, he was there looking out for me. My heart was always the strongest with Riku and Kairi, but somehow it felt the strongest with Riku. Could this be what love felt like? It must have! I looked back at Riku and looked back into his eyes. I could see the hearts in them. I think I love him too.

I replied back to him, "I lovee you too." We looked at each other, then we looked up in space. There was some silence before I asked him, "So, now what?"

"I was thinking we could, you know, sleep together in bed."

I smiled at him. "I could go with that."

"C'mon!" Riku stood up eagerly and went to his house.

I followed him. It wasn't too far away from the beach, but all our homes was like that. His was just the closest to where we were and mine was the furthest away, but it was a perk nonetheless from being on an island. We arrived to his house. There was some tiki torches already lit on the outside and a surfboard situated on the home. It looked inviting. There was no trace of anyone who went through the darkness and back here. Just a normal guy. Riku went ahead and held the door open. He was being quite the gentleman. I curtseyed as I entered through the doorway.

When I entered the living room, it had a tiki beach theme to it. On the shelves lined tiki idols, carved out of some wood from around here. The furniture was made out of bamboo and surf items were scattered all around. There was one of those leaf fans that blew cool air around the room. It looked really good. Exotic. Unexpected. I like it.

"Welcome to my home." Riku gave me a warm smile as he entered the house.

"I didn't know you were into this."

"Why not?" After all, we live on a beach."

"True. And your surf too?"

"All the time. Picked it up as soon as we returned from the dream worlds. I picked it up real fast. I'll show you some time."

"I'd love to see you!"

"Some time later." There was an awkwardness at the time. "Let's get to my room. It's this way."

He grabbed my hand and led me down the hall to his bedroom. The theme continued down the hall and into his room. Pictures of surfers surfing captivated me and many other pictures of luaus became apparent. In his room, his furniture was made out of either bamboo or wood. There was a shelf with even more tiki idols. On his nightstand, there was a small lamp. On the door was a full length mirror. He had several pictures of ripped guys either surfing or holding their surfboards. On the floor was one of those rugs that had roped cloth wrapped around. It looked surprisingly comfortable. The room overall was Polynesian themed. Even his bed had designs that was very reminiscint to that culture. I was very much intrigued by what I had saw.

I whistled. "Your room looks real good."

"You can say I got an eye for this sort of thing." He then looked at me after he said that.

"Most definitely."

I looked at Riku. I saw something that I hadn't noticed much before. He had a very muscular body. He had a six pack that could rival any athlete's, a chest that could only be chiseled by the gods, and arms that were massively round. He had to look like Hercules in front of me. I could only ogle at him as he threw his shirt towards his closet.

"I can tell you like what you see." He looked back at me lustfully. I nodded. "I like to keep my body in good shape. I don't like to see any fat on me. Plus, it looks good while surfing." I went silent. Riku continued his show as he slowly undid his bathing suit. He was completely naked in front of me. Man, did he look sext. He looked at me oddly. "Aren't you going to strip yourself? I reckon you'll feel a lot more comfortable."

"Oh, uh, yeah!" I was sent back to reality at that moment.

I took off my own bathing suit and dropped them to the ground. I was nervous. I had never been naked like this. Not in front of my best friend turned lover. But, I'm glad that it was Riku. My body was never as ripped as Riku. I didn't work out like he did. I was actually a tad bit sifter. There was a small bulge around my stomach and my chest looked like two pieces of padding permanently attached to my body. The only way I stayed fit was with my Keyblade training with Riku and Kairi.

"You can toss your bathing suit next to mine." He pointed towards his closet.

I nod and picked up my bathing suit. I tossed it in the direction he told me.

"I'm ready." I said sheepishly.

Riku crawled on his bed. He laid there on his side with his head propped up by his hand. He looked so sexy lying there like that. That smug smile mixed in with eager anticipation. I started to get flush as I stood there.

"So, you're coming up?"

"Yeah."

I crawled up next to Riku. We were slightly sitting up on bed and partly lying on it. My long best friend turned recent lover. I felt his body radiate heat like I have never felt before. Skin against skin. Something I have never experienced before. This had made me feel stressed and this stress had caused some soreness in my body. Riku could sense my tension. He took both of his hands, his big, strong hands, and started to massage my shoulders. I shuddered a little when I felt his hands on me. Honestly, I hadn't felt this tense in a long while. Last time I felt this way was when I had to face Xehanort myself. This entire experience felt like a dream, but it felt so real.

"Relax." Riku ordered me.

I nod and let myself in Riku's caring hands. All my stress had faded away with each hand stroke. I felt myself coming closer to Riku as I relaxed further into him. It has been a long while when I felt this relaxed and I could get use to this. Each night, coming to Riku's house to get a nice massage after a long day of training. Sinking deeper into Riku as he did his stuff. It was like meditation and it felt nice.

"Oh yeah." I said at the most relaxed as I sunk deeply into Riku.

Some time after that, Riku had decided to stop massaging me. We ended up cuddling each other. Riku had his arm across me as he held me tight. It was comforting. To be with another man who cared for me, who had protected me on my journeys. Even if I could not see him. I had never been intimate with anyone and he was my first. I knew that when it happened, it would be destiny. Over the course of many adventures, I had shared my heart with many. Some were strong, but not as strong as the bond between me and Riku. This relationship was destined to form. I knew it.

Riku, with his free hand, reached for my head and started stroking my hauir. "So, I was thinking. Now that we're settled in, maybe we can have a little bit of fun?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Sex." Riku said bluntly again.

I thought it over. I was still a virgin, but it was something I've heard about and actually wanted to do. Eventually. But, it had to be when my heart was ready for it and my heart was.

'Sure." I replied to him.

I turned my body some so I could look at him. Riku had a large, playful, and eager smile on his face.

"Great! Let's do this."

"You did good Sora." He said as we cuddled once again.

"Same." I just let Riku cuddle me. I liked his protection. Even much more. "Know what?"

"What?"

"I never had sex before." I confessed.

"So you were a virgin?"

"Not anymore!"

We both chuckled, then we drifted off to sleep.