When Kairi and I finally caught up to Sora and Riku, we found them arguing over who had won.
"You wish you won, Sora," Riku smugly said, walking away.
Sora turned to us girls, clearly exasperated. "I won, didn't I?"
"Erm…we didn't really see the end," I responded.
Sora groaned and slumped to the ground, head hanging low in defeat.
"Oh, come on. There's always next time," I encouraged, pulling him to his feet.
"She's right, Sora," Kairi responded. I glanced at her, not really asking for her two cents. "So, can you gather the rest of the supplies? Sora, are you listening to me?" Kairi's eyes were on Sora when she said the last part.
I turned to look at him, suddenly aware of how close I was to him. Stepping aside slightly, I waited for him to snap out of his thoughts.
"Huh? Yeah I heard you," he answered.
"Okay, here's what you need to go find. Two logs, one cloth, and one rope. Bring everything back here. Leora can help you," she said.
I raised my eyebrow, annoyed how she added me without my consent. Nevertheless, alone time with Sora? I wasn't about to pass that up. "Sure, I'll help." I put on a fake smile and agreed.
"If you two need help, just ask. I'm counting on you guys!" With that, she headed off.
"I wonder what she'll be doing," I said, not totally aware that it was out loud.
"Probably playing with those shells of hers," Sora put in, placing his hands on the back of his head in a laid back pose.
I smiled. "Most likely. Well, those items aren't going to find themselves. Let's get going." I led the way to the first log, sitting on the beach near the rolling waves. "One down, three to go."
"I remember seeing a log on the bridge," Sora mentioned.
"Oh yeah. Let's see if it's still there." I picked up the first log. "I'll carry this one."
We made our way over to the bridge, then to the bent tree where we found Riku.
"What are you two up to?" he asked, jumping down from the tree.
"Just collecting some things for the raft," I answered, and then added. "See, I'm working." I flashed a smile as Sora grabbed the log lying beside the tree.
Hoisting my own log onto my shoulder, I spoke again. "Can't stick around, Riku, got work to do!" I called, heading back over the bridge.
"Yeah yeah, you two have fun!" Riku called back.
"Not much fun here," Sora said, heaving the large log up to hold it better.
"It depends how you look at it," I responded, making sure not to look his way.
"Huh? What does that mean?" he questioned.
Searching for an excuse to ignore his question, I walked over to Wakka.
"Hey you two," he greeted.
"Hello Wakka. Whatcha doing?" I asked, propping the heavy log against the small wooden staircase. Sora did the same, stretching his arms.
"Oh, me and Tidus, we're going to explore the secret place at the base of the tree. There's gotta be something there, ya?" he explained.
"I guess," I answered, glancing at the unknown dark entrance. Many times, I found myself sitting in the small cave even though it always gave me the chills.
"Sounds like fun," Sora said. "It's definitely something I'd like to be doing right now," he muttered.
"Only two more things to find," I reminded. "Then we can relax."
"Right. Let's get that done."
I nodded and we continued on our hunt. It didn't take too long to find the rope and cloth. When we did, we headed back to Kairi, our arms strained from the logs.
She smiled as we approached. "Thanks guys. I found something today too. Here," she said, handing out a Hi-Potion to each of us. "Tired? Want to call it a day?" she asked.
Sora and I shared a 'whatastupidquestionthereKairi' look. I nodded. "Yeah, I'm bushed."
"Let's go home," Sora added.
"Okay, it is getting late. We'll finish up tomorrow," Kairi said.