"Please tell me again how it happened". Riku was beyond amazed. They'd chosen to spend lunch outside, for a change. Plus, Link insisted he had this incredible thing to tell them, but he didn't want other students butting in.

"He told us twice already." Navi cried, exasperated. "He was sent by Mr. Deku to drop the horses at Zelda's house for their start of year rich people parade or whatever it was, they met by accident, he introduced himself and she invited him to the party. Was that not clear enough?"

Actually, that wasn't remotely how it happened.

Link had frozen in the spot once he saw her. He thought about making a run for it, but then she turned around and his muscles refused to move until she was right in front of him. She'd asked for his name, what he was doing there, if he was lost. All he managed to do was blink. Instead of freaking out, to his surprise, she'd laughed.

"I remember where I know you from." She'd said. "We go to high school together, don't we?"

"Uh… yeah" Oh he was such a conversationalist. She'd laughed at that too.

"You don't talk much, do you?" He responded by looking away and running a hand through the back of his head. She'd found that funny too. Or maybe cute? "You know, my parents let me throw this big party at the end of the event on Saturday. You may have heard of it, it's kind of a big thing." He had no idea what she was talking about. She was pretty. Was he staring? She chuckled. "You can totally come if you want to. You can bring your friends too."

"Sure". Seriously, a plant has a wider vocabulary.

"Great. I gotta go back. See you around."

"Dude, I don't get it." Riku interrupted his thoughts. "This party is like… huge. We never get invited to these things. That could be our ticket to thousands of other parties"

"Omg, all the cool kids are so like totally gonna be there" Navi mocked him. Riku gave her a look and saw Sora coming out through the back door just past Navi. She looked at him too and turned around, suddenly worried. "You should go talk to him."

"It was a pretty dishonorable thing to do" Link added

Sora threw himself into the seat and stared at his food. He wasn't hungry.

"There you are." Kairi took the seat at his right and some other kids he'd met that week filled the table. There was Ash, a dark haired real lazy kid who always wore a red cap and collected some… toys? Sora didn't know what they were. And then there was this kid Diddi, who also wore a red cap and whose last name was Kong. What kind of name is Kong? He didn't even look Chinese. If anything, he kind of resembled a monkey. "Hellooo?"

"Huh?" Sora lifted his head up and met Kairi's gaze, a puzzled look on her face.

"Hey, you've been avoiding me ever since Riku's party."

"You went to one of Riku's parties?" The other kids in the table fell silent. One of them choked nearly to death.

"Yeah" Sora mumbled. "So what?"

"So that is so totally amazing. I heard they even drink alcohol." Ash's eyes were too open. "How'd you get invited?"

"He's an old friend of ours" Kairi explained

"Yeah, but Riku never makes friends with younger kids. He actually has a tight group of friends" Diddi went on. "You guys must be really something"

"Is that so?" Kairi chuckled. "Doesn't sound like the Riku I know. Right, Sora?"

"Yeah… not at all" Sora stood up

"Where are you going?" He didn't need Kairi to be all cute and worried right now. He hadn't gathered enough strength to tell her what had really happened Friday night.

"I need some fresh air".

He swore he could feel the looks people gave him, if that was even possible. He wished he could send them hovering through the air away from him. He felt so disappointed. At Riku, at himself… He was more than that. He was hurt.

He remembered last summer vividly. Riku had come up with a crazy idea: that they should build a raft and sail all the way to another world. It hadn't sound so stupid at the time. At first, Sora and Kairi had thought he was just being silly, but he started going crazy serious about leaving, wanting to escape and how he wasn't afraid of anything.

Then Kairi had turned to Sora and said Riku was acting weird and that the two of them should take the raft and go without him. It was hard to tell when Kairi was being serious. She always had that casual look on her face. Sora hadn't even considered the fact that he would be traveling alone with Kairi – or that they knew nothing about sailing – and had stated that he wouldn't go anywhere without his best friend instead.

Maybe he was still a kid. Did he miss some personality makeover before high school? He must have. All those people seemed to think parties and drinking and grown up stuff was so great. He just hadn't had such a great time.

"Sora, wait!" It was Riku's voice. He didn't realize he had just come all the way to the patio until now. Was Riku really coming this way?

"I don't wanna talk to you." He spat out and continued walking. Riku blinked and grabbed his arm

"Hey, wait up. Sora, come on." He spun his friend around and stopped him. "Listen, I'm sorry, alright?"

Sora looked like he wanted to cry. But he wouldn't, he told himself. Not even if he was just about to lose his best friend.

"I'm sorry I acted kindda weird last week." Riku lowered his voice and ran a hand through his white hair. Sora frowned

"Kindda weird? You're acting beyond weird. Ever since school started it's like you don't even know me anymore. You ignored me all week and then you locked me up in a closet."

"How'd you manage to escape, anyway?" Sora's frown deepened. "You're right. Not the point. Heh… I guess I'm not that used to seeing you guys in high school. What did Kairi say?"

"She doesn't know…" Sora lowered his head. "Why would you do that to me?"

Riku felt the guilt building up in his stomach. Why did he do that? Part of him had been a little tipsy at the time and the other part really wanted G and Lance to think he was cool. Was that reason enough to trick the poor kid? Just cause they thought it would be funny? He knew Sora looked up to him. He was supposed to be the example, like an older brother. What was he thinking? He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely. "I get a little stupid when I drink and some friends insisted it would be funny. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Well, then I don't think you should hand out with those 'friends' of yours". Sora crossed his arms. Riku smiled.

"They're not so bad. In fact, let me introduce you to some of them right now."

Riku guided Sora over to his friends' table, where Link and Navi were pretending not to listen. They weren't the 'friends' Sora was talking about, but it was a start.

"Sora, these are my best friends… er-in school." He gestured at Navi. "This little piece of person is my friend Navi. Everything she doesn't have in size, she makes up in annoying."

"Hey…"

"And heart." She grinned. "And that one's name is Link." The boy twitched his lip and raised a hand. "His social skills used to be better with horses than with people until this weekend, when he got us invited to one of the best parties in the universe."

"Whose?" Sora was already feeling comfortable around them

"Princess Zelda's" Navi crossed her arms

"Really? A princess?" Sora's eyes went wide. The others laughed

"She's not really a princess." Navi explained. "There's this group of girls everyone in school calls the 'Princesses'. You may have seen them around, they wear dresses and heels all the time and when they pass by you feel your brain cells dying"

"I think I have" Sora chuckled

"The other two girls' names are Peach and Daisy. All three of them are crazy popular and rich and, like, every guy's dream. You have better standards, though, I presume." She narrowed her eyes at Sora

"Me?"

"You don't have to worry about Sora." Riku squeezed him and messed his hair. "He has a dream all to himself. And she's pretty nice, too."

"What? Who?" Sora freed himself and felt the heat building up in his face. He knew exactly who Riku was talking about.

"What I don't understand, though" Riku went on, addressing Link "Is how you managed to articulate more than one word to a girl without throwing up."

He hadn't.

"Are we still on that subject?" Navi rolled her eyes.

"I mean, come on. You usually hate girls talking to you." Navi cleared her throat at the statement, but Riku carried on. "Especially hot ones."

"Hello? What am I? An ugly dude?" Everyone ignored Navi. Sora raised a hand to his chin.

"It seems to me that you like this Zelda girl" He said

"I don't like her." Link spat out, darkly. That was the first thing Sora had heard him say. Though the red blush on his face said otherwise.

"Yeah, Link doesn't like girls." Riku sat next to him and patted his back. "And also he wants to kill every girl in the world who takes interest on him".

"Like it's my fault". Although Riku and Navi were laughing, Link didn't seem to find the subject amusing at all. "They all keep staring at me and say awkward things and try to touch me all the time."

"Boohoo, hot girls try to touch me, my life sucks." Riku mocked. Everyone laughed, except, of course, the addressee.

Saved by the bell. He stood up and started towards his usual spot in the roof. He was gonna seriously fail some subjects. Sora, Riku and Navi went back inside.

"Don't mind him." Navi offered Sora a friendly smile. "He's a great friend once you get to know him."

He didn't like Zelda. Link shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He had decided to go to class in the end. Now he wished he hadn't. He was sitting at the back of the class, next to Navi and Zelda was three rows ahead of him, checking her cellphone.

This had nothing to do with her, and everything to do with his dreams. Link believed in dreams furiously. They were always different, but about the same thing: riding horses, sword fighting, rescuing princesses and playing these melodies. There was this nightmare in particular he felt the strongest about. The sky was dark and there was a castle. Suddenly, the door would open and a horse would come out of it, carrying a little blonde girl with blue eyes dressed in pink. She'd throw something at him, but it fell into a river. Before he could run to reach for it, another rider would come out of the castle. A dark man with red hair and the evilest look in his face. He'd stretch his hand at Link with an evil laugh, and then he would wake up.

The first time he'd seen Zelda he almost couldn't believe it, though he doubted she remembered. They were in the park and she was celebrating her 10th birthday. She was wearing a pink puffy dress and a golden tiara. This couple of red headed boys he later met as Lance and G were pulling her hair and trying to push her. Link ran to her and hit the boys with this wooden sword Mr. Deku let him carry around. The boys started crying and called their parents. Since Link didn't have any parents, they blamed it all on him and told Mr. Deku what a bully he was. He'd taken the sword and never let him use it again. In public.

This was nothing to do with her. It was just the fact that she was blonde and had blue eyes and wore pink and was called a princess. It couldn't be a coincidence. That was it, his dream. This had nothing to do with the fact that all that that pink brought out her eyes or those delicate pink lips on her face and the curve they made when she smiled at him.

Shit, she was smiling at him.

His hand slipped and his face hit the notebook on his desk. He buried his face on his hands to hide the blush and turned around. He found Navi staring at him and she mouthed 'seriously?', raising an eyebrow.

Sora woke up drenched in sweat. Those nightmares were intensifying by the day.

He was falling from the sky into the water. No, from the water into the sky. Then there was a storm and these strange shadows would appear and he was always looking for Kairi. And then there was this talking duck and dog and Riku was consumed by some darkness. It was all too weird, but it felt like more than a dream.

He shook his head and stared at the window. It was still dark, but he wasn't tired anymore. He got up and climbed out the window, towards the woods. A nice long walk would clear his head.

Link and Riku arrived at Zelda's house at 11:30. They had let the guards guide them to the front door this time, so they wouldn't get lost among the gardens. Man, the place was huge. They could only imagine what the inside looked like.

Despite they boys' tries, they couldn't get Navi to come. That was alright, since she hated Peach's gut and they didn't want her to pick up a fight or anything.

Link rang the bell and the door opened. Speak of the devil… Peach stood tall with those high heels of hers, which seemed to be glued to her feet. She was wearing a too tight, too short pink dress. To her right, Daisy wore white tight pants and an orange top.

"Excuse you, nobody ordered cradle around here". She said to Link. Daisy covered her mouth with her hands.

"Oh buuuuurn"

Link ignored their tone. "We're here for the party". He said humbly.

"Oh, are you?" Peach went on "It seems to me that you're a little lost. So why don't you get back to your horses, that blue haired elf you call a friend and play your little flute all the way back where you came from."

"It's an ocarina"

"Looks like a loser to me." She laughed and shut the door. Link turned back to Riku

"Sorry man…" Riku placed a hand on his shoulder as they started to walk back. Suddenly, something caught their attention. Two red haired boys were peeking through a dark window, at the side of the building. They exchanged a look and Riku paced slowly towards them.

"The entrance is that way…" Riku lifted his hand to point at the door when he realized they were trying to open the window. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" The one with dark skin smirked. "We found the room where Zelda's dad keeps the liquor, but the guards won't let us in from the inside. Care to join?"

Riku turned to look at Link. There was some anxiety on his expression.

"We don't want any trouble." Link resolved.

"Whatever, man. You're just afraid of the dark." The other one said. Link opened his mouth, but was interrupted

"I'm not afraid of the dark" Riku stated, proudly.

"Then get over here and help! Quick, before someone sees us."

Riku turned to link again, as if waiting for approval.

"Go ahead if you want to. I can walk home by myself." Link finally said. Riku nodded and ran towards the boys. Link put his hands in his pockets and started walking towards the exit. He was almost reaching the first gates when he heard a voice.

"Wait!"

He half turned and saw Zelda running towards him. She was wearing a pink mini skirt and a white blouse. Link made a mental note about how long her legs were and how the heels made them look sharp, though she had a hard time walking in those things. She stopped to catch her breath, a clouded expression on her face.

"Is it true, what Peach said? Do you really work at the stables?" She asked. He was hoping more for an 'I'm sorry my friend's such an insolent dumbass, please come back', but alright.

"The owner of the stable, Mr. Deku found me when I was a kid and took care of me ever since. Helping him out with the horses is the least I can do in return. Last week I was just delivering a couple of horses for your family's event" He explained.

"Oh.." She fidgeted with her hands. "About that… do you think you could give me horseback riding lessons?"

"What?" That had caught him completely off guard.

"No one ever taught me how to ride and I kindda made a fool of myself last week. I was so embarrassed. I don't want it to happen again" She mid blushed. "So, could you?"

Link stared at her for a while. Riding lessons? No one had ever asked him to teach how to ride a horse before… though he was exceptionally good at it. He held her gaze as he tried to remember the girl from his dream. Everything matched so perfectly. What did this mean? "I guess I could teach you some things."

"Great!" She grinned.

Link didn't even notice how far into the woods he'd gotten after that. Not until he tripped on something soft. He would have fallen all the way to the ground had he not grabbed on to a boulder. Suddenly, the thing he tripped on moved, startled.

"Huh? Wha-what's going on?" The kid looked as though he had just woken up

"What are you doing here?" Link tried to steady himself against the giant rock and took a look at the kid. "Sora?"

"Link, right?" Sora shook his head and blinked. "Woah, I must have fallen asleep. I got out for a walk and kindda got tired on my way back. Thought I'd rest for a while. Guess it was more than a while, though." He grinned. "What are you doing here?"

Link took a step forward and stared at the rock. It had some strange marks on it, but he couldn't quite tell what they meant.

"On my way home" The blonde said, distracted.

"From Zelda's party? How was it?" Link glanced at him. Horrible… and then just weird.

"Come on, let's get you home." Link helped Sora up and they both started walking.

"Everything's falling into place, just as expected"

"Even in this world, with this new life, Riku's heart is still inclined towards darkness. Interesting."

"They may not have their memories, but their hearts are just the same"

"Interesting".