t w o


"Did you notice you two are never apart anymore?"

Sora placed the bottle gently on the water, allowing his shorts to get slightly wet as the waves came and went. Even with his back turned to him, he knew he was smiling.

Always smiling.

"Sora spends time with the others too."

Kairi laughed. When her laughter met the wind, it almost sounded like beautiful bells. Still the bright light, she was. She made everything feel like home.

"That doesn't deny the first question!"

"Are you jealous?"

She could swear she saw Sora in his grin. It was hard to even distinguish one from the other these days. She shook her head.

"Can you ever be serious?"

Sora waved to the bottle as it got out of sight, out of reach. His laughter could be heard, clearly, from the spot Kairi and Riku were on the dry sand. He let out a positive exclamation they couldn't quite understand.

Riku smiled, never taking his eyes off of him.

Maybe he doesn't want to be.

"Now we wait!" Sora announced and he let himself fall on his back, onto the sand, beside Riku. He closed his eyes, just enjoying the warmth of the sun.

Riku smiled, never taking his eyes off of him.

Or maybe that's all he ever wants.

"Well, let's not waste the day away waiting for the answer!" Kairi blocked the sun on Sora's face, and soon those bright eyes were looking at her. "Let's go meet Selphie and the others!"

"In a minute, Kai!" He flashed her a grin, and it was gone as soon as it came. He feigned sleep.

Kairi rolled her eyes.

"Right. Just stay there being lazy then." She laughed, and started walking away. Over her shoulder, she called, "We'll be waiting for you two!"

"Yeah!" They both answered. And soon, not a single sound but that of the sea and the breeze.

Sometimes it felt odd not having any shadow to fight against.

"I'm sleepy." Sora rolled to lie on his side, his hands brushing lightly against Riku's, which lied on the sand, supporting him.

"No, you just get terribly lazy when it's too hot. Now get up and go with Kairi."

"…You're not moving either."

He chuckled.

"Just go, Sora! You shouldn't make her wait."

Gazes locked on each other. Sora seemed like he was going to say something, but in the end, didn't. Sitting up, he stretched. It was almost like a habit now. Like he was always trying to recover from some deep fatigue. Maybe the island was making him rusty. Maybe he was being too lazy.

But Riku wasn't moving either.

"I'll be going in a minute."

He ruffled his friend's hair, making it messier than it already was. The bangs framing his face were slightly moist with sweat, but his hands still touched soft, soft hair. With a laugh, Sora backed away from the playful touch, and got up, going in the same direction their female friend had gone.

Kairi could never understand.

Because she could smile when Sora wasn't around.

Because she hadn't taken the blindfold from his eyes.

Because she had wanted to be found.