For the next three weeks Sora practiced sword fighting relentlessly. At recess, at lunch, before school, after school, in his house, on the island. Any place he could get his feet on. Riku practiced, too. But it was difficult for him to find a partner that matched his skill level. So he had Tidus, Selphie, Wakka, and Sora all go against him at once. Kairi would cheer them on from the sidelines. Right now her days were concentrated on a little charm that she was trying to sew together. She had a little black market business for homemade jewelry going on at the middle school during the day. A few times Sora had wandered over to ask her how she made them. But he lost interest every time she got to the second knot.

For his moneymaking efforts so far he had received two hundred dollars. He offered to mow lawns, water flowers, dog sit, bag groceries, tell jokes, make faces, and scare away birds. If it had not been for Riku giving him ideas, he wouldn't have made half as much. He often asked Selphie about her babysitting rates. But she told him she charged more because she was certified in CPR.

"How much does it cost to get certified?" Sora asked.

"Uh, thirty bucks," Selphie responded.

Sora had decided after that that he would stick with dog sitting.

But of course, the mad dash money schemes and the sudden upsurge in fight training had everyone curious about why Riku and Sora were so hell bent on being the best and richest combatants in Destiny Islands. One day, after Sora had thrashed Wakka, Selphie, and Tidus all at once and as he stood gloating over his victory, Tidus trudged towards him and patted him on the back. Wakka called that he needed to go for blitzball practice at the high school, and Selphie disappeared with Kairi to help with her jewelry. Riku was at work right now. He had gotten a job at the shipyard hauling boxes and making sure boats were tied properly. But Tidus did not have club blitzball until seven, and he and Sora stowed their backpacks in the island shack and walked along the shore. When they ducked underneath the bridge leading to the big circular platform, Tidus turned to Sora and asked what was up. Sora asked what Tidus meant.

"You just seem different," the boy murmured. "You're always talking about money and "hero time" and stuff."

"But "hero time" is my catchphrase!" Sora cried.

"I thought, "nothing to it" was your catchphrase," responded Tidus. "You have never said "hero time" before last week."

"I have, too!" barked Sora. He tried thinking of a time before when he had used "hero time." But nothing came. In irritation he swept a pebble from the sand and tried skipping it across the surf. It plunked right through. Sora scowled. Tidus rested at his side.

"You doing the hero academy in Olympus Coliseum?" Tidus asked. Sora choked on his saliva.

"How did you know about that?" he gasped. "Did Riku tell you?"

"No, Sora, I was the one who told Riku!" Tidus laughed. "I was the one who gave him the poster! Did he show it to you or something?"

For a moment Sora narrowed his eyes and stared at Tidus. He had promised Riku that he would not tell anyone about Mount Olympus. But, there was no harm in talking about it if the person already knew, right? Defeated, Sora broke into a grin and giggled.

"We're planning on going," he whispered. In return, Tidus beamed. "I want to do it, too!" he cried. "I'm gonna try making my adoptive parents feel guilty so they'll give me money," he added. Sora gaped.

"You can't do that Tidus!"

"Why not?"

"Because it's wrong! That's taking advantage of people!"

"But I wanna be a hero, too!" he pouted, folding his arms over his chest. Sora rolled his eyes and patted Tidus's shoulder.

"How's about you start hanging around with me?" Sora tried. "We'll totally make some green if we both act cute."

"Yeah, let's act cute!" Tidus beamed. "Then we'll make tons of green!"

Feeling rather fatherly, Sora took Tidus under his wing and waltzed him across the shore, talking about all the great things they were going to do together once they got to the Coliseum. Then, for fun, they fought. Sora with his wooden sword, and Tidus with his red rod. Sora trounced him easily. When the latter took to pouting again, Sora promised that if they kept practicing, Tidus would get tons better. As he thought of the raft, stars came into his eyes.

"We're gonna build a raft and sail after the ship if we don't get enough money together," he whispered. Tidus furrowed his brows.

"You'd never catch a ship with a raft," he muttered.

Sora decided never to talk with Tidus about the raft again. Instead he went on about Riku and how much money he wondered he had made.

"Probably, like, three hundred," he sighed. Tidus's eyes nearly popped out of his head. When Sora added that he had made two hundred Tidus cackled.

"Five hundred together?" he gasped. "Wow! You guys are rich, Sora!"

"Yeah, but the ticket to the Coliseum is thirteen drachmas," Sora sighed.

"How much is that?" responded Tidus. Sora bit his lip. He couldn't remember very well, so he shrugged and said, "about two thousand."

"TWO THOUSAND," Tidus screeched, and fell back against the sand. "Each," Sora added with badly hidden glee. Tidus rolled around his legs.

"Wow, wow, wow!" the boy cried. When he sat up, his head swayed.

"I gotta tell Wakka," he whispered. "He'll help me make money."

"Just don't tell Selphie," Sora warned. When Tidus asked why not, he told him that if he told Selphie, she would tell Kairi.

"Why don't you want Kairi knowing?" Tidus asked.

"Because Riku and I don't want to have to look after her," responded Sora. Tidus' expression breathed confusion. But he pursed his lips and shrugged all the same.

By this time the sun was a sliver on the cap of the ocean. The boys decided it was time to go home, so they headed for the pier to unhook their boats. Then they returned to the mainland, where they parted ways with a wave.