Disclaimer: Okay, presently, I own some cd's, an acoustic guitar with the hole bit broken after my industrial-sized fan was pushed onto it by my cat, and I definitely can claim to own Kingdom Hearts – but that's only because my mum bought it for me. Yeah. My KH ownage extends only as far as the PS2 cords will stretch.

Belated warnings: Spoilers. Swearing. Eventual man love, obviously. Riku in uber-emo mode. And some amounts of Kairi bashing, although I originally didn't intend to. Something about the girl just riles me up. Oh, and definite OOCness, I'm pretty sure. I blame that on the fact that you can't buy CoM over here.

A/N: This chapter will be improved at a later date, because right now it pretty much sucks.

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CHAPTER TWO

Destiny Island was back to normal; beautiful sunshine, clear, warm air, just a hint of a breeze. The only indication that there had ever been inclemency at all was the sparkling wet streets and the numerous new dents littering the pavement, cars and occasional houses from the coconuts.

Sora and Kairi picked up Selphie, and the three found Tidus and Wakka at the docks, sparring. Tidus had his old, roughly hewn wooden sword in hand, while Wakka laughed hysterically and bopped him yet again with his ever-present blitzball. Tidus was red in the face. "Damn it, Wakka! This isn't baseball! If you throw that fucking ball at me, I am not going to hit it." To prove this, he ducked as the ball went sailing at his face. It hit the ground with spin, and rocketed back to clobber him in the back of the head. "Damn it, Wakka!"

Wakka was having trouble standing, but still managed to dart in and scoop the ball away before Tidus could line up the sharp corner of the sword to puncture it.

"This is no good!" Tidus bellowed hotly, face shining with sweat. "I need someone who fights with a sword." He spied Sora, eyes lighting up. "Sora! Friend! Come here and let me hurt you!"

"No way, Tidus." The three meandered over to the boys. "You know I'm no good at sword-sparring."

"But you'll get better! No greater motivation than survival!"

"No, thanks," Sora grinned. "I'll pass."

Tidus groaned, huffed, then threw a mini-tantrum as Wakka's ball smacked him on the shoulder. "That's it!" He tossed the sword aside and lunged for the cackling red-head. They wrestled for a while on the wooden planks, before, with a hefty sigh, Selphie moved to separate them. Kairi caught Sora's eye and grinned. "I have a feeling this is going to be a very good day."

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The boats skimmed the water, cutting through the skin of the ocean with ease, as the sun beat down. Sora's muscles found familiar ground as he worked the paddle, propelling forwards, surrounded on all sides by the people he loved most. Yeah, he was cheesy. He was, like, the cheese of cheeses when it came to sappy thoughts, but damn it – he was happy. Kairi was right. This was going to be a great day. The weather was fine, not a cloud to be seen, and they were heading for the play island, their childhood hideaway. It wasn't like it used to be; they were grown now. They were nearly adults, nearly unleashed upon the world, and things could never be innocent and fun and simple like they once were. But they could pretend, for a while. They could regress. And when school started again, and they all left for Twilight Academy for another semester, these pieces of themselves would stay behind, and Sora, at least, would use the memories to warm him. He would cling to them, in the hopes that age would fail to steal this feeling away.

They grew close to the island, and the others, with shouts and whoops, tipped out of their boats to swim the rest of the way to the jetty. Sora stayed in his boat until the oar was digging into the sand like a shovel, then climbed out and sloshed through the calf-deep water to tie it along with the others. He followed Kairi ashore, and joined in as they all pried their now soaking shoes from their feet and left them on the wood to dry. Almost instantly, Wakka and Tidus were racing off, feet kicking up clouds of sand in their wake, sending the girls and Sora into fits of choking.

"You freaking bums!" Selphie shrieked, eyes squeezed shut against the grains coating her wet face. She reached up with equally sandy hands to try and scrub them clean. "Oooh. Just you wait," she snarled, before stomping down the beach after them. Sora and Kairi raised an eyebrow at one another, before Sora rolled his eyes and found a comfortable place in the sun to sit and relax. Kairi washed herself off in the freshwater pool near the Secret Place, and joined him, sitting a little way behind on one of the rare patches of grass. Knees up, arms hanging over them, she squinted through the bright light, tucking a piece of wine-coloured hair behind her ear. "So," she started.

"So," Sora agreed, face angled back to catch the warming rays, eyes closed.

"You okay today? I figure you probably didn't sleep well last night."

Sora 'hmphed'. Kairi, of course, knew all about his problem. The others, well, everyone knew about his fear of the water, but they assumed it was just some kind of quirk, no big deal. Kairi was his best friend, though, had been since forever. They'd spent a lot of nights at each other's houses, and when he woke up screaming after The Nightmare, she would be screaming right alongside him, torn from sleep by his shrieks. Kairi was a smart girl; it didn't take her long to figure out the connection between the screams and the weather. After that, it was only a matter of time before Sora confessed to her.

"Yeah. Not too bad."

"Did you dream?"

He shook his head. "Didn't get to sleep."

"Ah. So that's why you look kinda like shit, huh?"

Sora cracked open an eye, turning to glare. "Kinda like shit."

"Well. You know. Not entirely. Kinda."

"Hmm. Yes. Kinda."

Kairi was quiet for a minute. "You ever notice how, the more you say a word out loud, the less meaning it has? Kinda."

"Kinda," said Sora.

"Kiiiinda."

"Kinda."

"…We're… strange."

"Very."

"So – what're you planning on doing today?"
Sora shrugged. "Figured we could comb the shallows, see what the storm washed up. If there's any decent driftwood, we could collect it for the raft."

"I heard that the Chenoweth's boat got smashed during the storm," Kairi offered. "Maybe the debris will have got caught here."

Sora nodded, opening his eyes and staggering to his feet. "Let's go, before the others find it."

"You think we'll get it floating before semester begins again?"

"Maybe. Hope so. First, let's make sure it survived the storm."

The pair set off at a jog, circling the small island.

Halfway there, Kairi gave him a small shove, yelled, "Race you!" and took off. Sora gave a strangled cry and pounded after her. They passed Tidus, Wakka and Selphie splashing around in the water. Selphie gave a shrill cry of encouragement as they streaked by. Sora was grinning. This was exactly how life should be.

"Oh, Sora! Look!" Kairi thrust an arm out, grinding to a halt and pointing at the paopu island. One of the tall trees had fallen in the storm, and was lying drunkenly over several other bent trees. Sora nodded. "You go ahead and look for the raft, I'll go check out the tree." They parted ways, Sora backtracking slightly to climb up to the bridge connecting the play island to the paopu one. He jogged along, listening to the creaking wood, and slowed as he approached the broken tree. Hands on hips, he hummed thoughtfully to himself and circled it, eyeing it off. It would be too heavy to tackle alone – they would have to strip its bark, and then get everyone to help roll it into the ocean. The bark was priceless, with its natural sap making it virtually waterproof, adding it to the raft would also improve the buoyancy of the vessel. Once it was built, they weren't entirely sure what they would do with it – long gone were the days of dreaming of sailing to other worlds. Childish fantasies, they had nonetheless persisted with the raft's construction, long after the fancy had died. It was fun, if nothing else, and it gave them a sense of accomplishment.

Sora walked up to the tree and placed a foot on it, giving it an experimental shove. The trunk barely budged an inch. Sora could see that the upper branches of the tree were tangled rather wildly in amongst those of the paopu trees that had, over the course of years jutting out so close to the ocean gales, ended up growing bent over like graceful yoga contortionists. He pushed up imaginary sleeves over his tanned, lithely muscular arms, and climbed up onto the trunk with monkey-like alacrity. Fingers digging into the grooves between each slat of bark, he quickly scaled the angled tree to where it joined with the others, and sat back on his heels to survey the situation. The boughs looked to be twisted pretty tight together; seemed like maybe it had fallen on the first day of the storm, considering how snugly it clung. That probably meant he had a job ahead of him. He glanced over his shoulder, able to make out the main Island, and squinted thoughtfully. If he went back now, and rowed quickly, he could have the machete from the attic and return within the hour. Give or take about twenty minutes depending on whether or not his mother caught him. He gave a small nod, agreeing silently with the train of thought, and hopped down into the tangle of leaves, grabbing the small ladder hanging from the side of the island and clambered down. His feet touched the water, and he paused for a while, savouring the coolness, and the sudden shade from the sun. He leaned against the earthen wall, sighing tiredly. Perhaps, instead of coming back right away, he could nap for a while in his room…

Sora paused, mid-thought, not certain at first what put him on alert.

Something… caught his eye.

He frowned, head lifting, as something blinked out on the water. No – slightly under. He waded forward several steps, almost to his knees, and shielded his eyes to peer out. Some kind of reflection. Something out there. Debris? Something for the raft…?

Hair.

Sora's heart stopped. "Oh, my God."

Without even thinking, he surged forth, not feeling as the water rose up his legs, to his hips, his waist, his chest. He struck out, pulling himself with powerful strokes, eyes never shifting from the silver glinting at the surface. He reached the body within moments, grasping the hair with one hand, the other snaking down until it reached a chin, and together they dragged the body up. "Oh, my God," he sobbed, treading water, as the face emerged – a pale, thin boy, his eyes shuttered, lips blue. "No," Sora muttered. "No, no, no." He lifted the body up, hooking his arms under those of the boy's, laying on his back with the boy across his chest. He started kicking madly, struggling to keep his head above water with the added weight. Almost instantly, his face dipped down, flooded, brine entering his ears, eyes and nose. He gasped, inhaling a film of water, and choked violently. He twisted sharply, grabbing as the boy started to slip back under, and desperately pulled them along in a sideways crawl. His toes scraped sand. Sora dug his fingers deeply into the silver-haired boy, dragging him ashore, screaming for help.

From far away, the others heard, but no one realised what was going on. They started towards him curiously, all of them an aching distance from the wailing boy. Help wasn't coming any time soon. Sora slammed the silver-haired teen to the wet sand. His clothes clung to his body in a way that made Sora physically ill – as if they had been plastered to him for days. "Please," he whined, then slapped the boy sharply across the face. The teen's head rolled with the motion, and a mark was slow to form. He looked dead. Sora began to heave, great, dry sobs that shook his slender frame. He leaned forward, forcing the boy's mouth open and pinching off his nose. Inexpertly, he leaned down and breathed into the cold cavern of the boy's mouth. He pulled back and looked expectantly into the boy's face, waiting for the miracle. It didn't come. He whimpered, leaned down and exhaled roughly again.

Selphie arrived first, and let out a small, traumatised scream, hands fluttering up to her mouth. Tidus and Wakka were bare few steps behind. Tidus, upon recognising the situation, said, "Oh, fuck," and quickly shoved Sora out of the way. Sora landed sprawled in the water as Tidus dropped to his knees and pressed his ear to the silver-haired boy's chest, two fingers simultaneously pressed against his cold neck. Selphie buried her face in Wakka's arm. Sora scrambled to his knees, watching on fearfully as Tidus sat back on his heels, adjusted the boy, and started CPR in earnest. At last, a confused Kairi came jogging from the opposite direction. She saw Sora, kneeling, wet and in tears, and made a beeline for him. "Sora!" She ducked down beside him in the shallows, wrapping her arms around his trembling form and pulled him close, gazing at the still body in the middle of it all. Sora's breaths were harsh in her ear, hitching brokenly. He clutched at her dress, desperate for comfort, and turned his head to watch the drama unfold.

"Who is he?" Kairi wondered. Tidus was pumping down on the boy's chest. Sora shook his head curtly, not knowing.

"He's done for," Wakka said darkly, his arms around the weeping Selphie. Sora flailed violently, shouting, "Shut up, Wakka!"

"Sora!" Kairi tightened her hold on him, trying to calm him. He shook her off, and turned fiercely to Tidus. "You better not stop, Tidus! Don't you stop until he's breathing!"

"I'm trying," Tidus snapped, preparing to exhale again into the boy's mouth.

"I can't watch!" Selphie wailed suddenly, withdrawing from her hiding place in Wakka's grasp. "I hate this!" She turned and ran down the beach.

"Selph! Wait!" Wakka followed the distressed girl, and soon their voices faded away, and the only sounds were Tidus' grunting efforts to revive the mystery teen, and Sora's loud breaths. He started to panic. "Why isn't he breathing? You're not doing it right!"

"Sora, that's enough," Kairi reprimanded tersely, squeezing his arms. "Tidus is doing his best!"

"Of course you'd say that," Sora snarled in response. "You're fucking in love with him, that doesn't mean he's doing it right!"

"Of course he's doing it right!" she yelled. "He's a goddamn blitzer, Sora! They get trained in CPR every year!"

Sora pushed her away, sloshing to his feet, clothes heavy with water. She grabbed at his wrist, dragging him down before he threw her off. "GET OFF ME!"

"Sora!"

Sudden choking filled the air. He whirled, wide-eyed, as the silver-haired boy leaned over and vomited water from his bloated lungs and stomach, coughing and screeching. Sora ran to his side, clutching his shoulders to hold him steady as he shook and struggled to breathe, Tidus slapping him helpfully on the back. One of the boy's arms snaked around Sora's neck, fingers clutching the skin painfully. His face was down, strings of hair obscuring his features, except for the gaping 'o' of his mouth as he drew in gasp after gasp. "It's okay," Sora assured him worriedly. "Everything's going to be fine now."

The boy turned his head to the side, and Sora found himself looking into clouded depths of the most pure shade of aquamarine he had never thought could exist in a set of eyes. "What's your name?" he asked softly, making soothing circles on the boy's back. Silver eyebrows knotted together, the expression on his face one of perfect bewilderment. His mouth worked silently for a moment, body still heaving in each breath, before panting, "Huh?"

"I'm Sora. What's your name?"

The boy looked down, hunching over at the pain in his chest, fingers spasmodically tightening and loosening around the back of Sora's neck. He looked… lost. He raised his eyes again, and Sora met them with an encouraging, concerned smile.

"S-Sora?"

Sora nodded quickly. "Yeah. Who are you? Where do you live?"

The boy blinked, a pained expression tearing his features. "I – I – I'm Riku," he said.

Sora grinned. "Hi, Riku."

"Riku," the boy said again, more insistently this time. "I'm Riku."

"And I'm Sora!"

This, apparently, was the limit of what the boy – Riku – was capable of. With one last dazed, baffled look, he went limp in Sora's arms. "No, wait!" Sora cried, panicking.

"Sora, it's okay." Tidus lay a hand on his shoulder. "He'll wake up. We need to get him to the hospital."

Sora wound his arms tighter around the boy. "Riku," he breathed, frowning.

"Don't worry," Kairi said softly behind him. "Everything's going to be fine."

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Somewhere, elsewhere, a tall blond woke up in a cold sweat. His breaths seemed to ricochet in the darkness, the blankets falling around his bare torso as he struggled out of bed and stumbled into the small adjacent bathroom. He made it just in time, exploding the contents of his stomach into the toilet bowl. He stayed there for several minutes, retching and moaning, until at long last the feeling faded. He pushed away from the toilet, lying flat on the cold tiles, pressing his burning forehead to the coolness with a whimper. How long he stayed there, he didn't know, before a small, gentle hand stroked his cheek. His eyes cracked open, and the pain and sympathy he saw on the face near his wrenched a sob from his lips. "Ssh," said the other man. He wrapped his arms around the blond, and curled into his side on the bathroom floor. The blond buried his face into the chest of the other, and they slowly rocked.

"Th-there's another." His voice cracked, his words sounding unnecessarily loud in the silence. "Ssh," repeated the other, running soft fingers through his hair. "It's out of our hands now."

"Zexion, I'm sorry," the blond moaned brokenly.

"It's okay, Dem. I understand. Don't worry about it now. Everything's going to be fine."