Chibi: (excited) Hey there! I just wanna thank all three of my first reviewers, Kawaii Tokyo Angel, xMegumix, and kingdomheartster! (huggies reviewers)
Shiloh: Hi there! This is the first random authoress note in this fic!
Riku: And I'm in it! Hi!
Shiloh: (smirks) Oh, hi Riku
Riku: (points accusing finger) Are you mocking me?
Sora: (pops out of nowhere) Hi!
Chibi: (throws a burnt waffle at him) Who wants burnt waffles?
Fan(s): Everybody run! She's got deadly burnt waffles!
(Theres pure chaos as everybody screams and runs)
Chibi: Well thank you for your unflagging support my fans (sighs) I don't cook that bad (sobs) Wait...how can you burn a waffle?
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or ANYTHING just Shiloh, GOT IT MEMORIZED?
--
Chapter 2- Preparations and Promises
As Shiloh walked up onto the warm beach the next morning, greeted by the blazing sun and the smell of the ocean staining the air with a salty scent, she longed for one thing. Sleep.
She sleepily rubbed the back of her head, temporarily frizzing her hair up. Her eyes trailed to the warm sand below her, in which she could feel through her boots as she moved across the beach rather sluggily.
Stupid Riku, making her chase him practically half around the island last night. Nevertheless, she enjoyed it, as a matter of fact she enjoyed every time her friends and she goofed off. It was times like those that would make her miss Destiny Islands so much, when they departed.
As Shiloh spotted the two figures on the beach, figuring it was Kairi and Sora, she sighed, knowing today wouldn't exactly be a day of great rest and relaxation. More like preparation.
Shiloh tried to keep a positive, tedious, ready-to-work attitude, but it pretty much failed badly when she approached Kairi and Sora.
Sora was presently sprawled out onto the warm sand, his hands behind his head, looking up at Kairi, who was focused on a small note she was holding. Sora's crystal blue eyes glittered up at her as he blinked repeatedly to wake himself up.
"Hey guys," she greeted them, with a bit of forced enthusiasum.
"Hey," said Kairi, seeming entirely focused on the note in her hands. Her eyes scanned the numerous sentences that Shiloh could see through the back as she placed a hand on her chin in thought. Shiloh made a bit of a frustrated sound at the sight of it.
It was probably a list for the trip, which meant more work for all of them.
Sora lay stretched out in the sand right below her, his hands behind his head buried in his hair, resting in the sand.
"Hey Shiloh," he said, letting out a loud yawn afterwards.
The Destiny Island winds brushed his brunette hair over his mezmorizing sky blue eyes as he closed them for a brief second to get a nap in. Upon seeing Sora being lazy again, Shiloh grinned mischieviously and nudged him in his side gently with her boot.
"Hey Sora, no being a bum today," she said, her boot poking his side slowly.
Sora grunted lazily in response, and brought a hand from behind his head to ward off Shiloh's boot. "Just five more minutes,"
Shiloh smirked and crossed her arms, trying hard to ignore her urge to take a nap on this fine day.
Kairi finally averted her eyes from the note to her friends in front of her, and spoke briskly while beginning to walk away.
"Hey guys, I'm gonna go update this list. Do something productive while I'm gone?"
As Kairi walked away, Shiloh sighed tiredly and gazed up into the sky for comfort. She had a feeling that there'd be alot of work to be done today, such as gathering food, and constructing the raft.
However, it was probably for the best since they wouldn't get very far with an unfinished raft and not much food. But still, provisions were annoying.
"Hey Shiloh," beckoned Sora's voice.
"Hm?"
"Wanna sleep?" he asked, looking up at her from the ground.
Shiloh snorted, looking down upon him.
"Sora, we're both supposed to be doing something productive, hence Kairi's words,"
Sora grinned, his eyes opening immediately. "Oh c'mon, when has that ever stopped us?"
He cringed at the light laughter that briefly erupted from Shiloh, but nevertheless continued on.
"C'mon, you're tired aren't you?"
Shiloh finished cackling for a minute, and slowly lowered herself down onto the sand."Of course I am, your making me more exhausted by just looking at you," she replied. The soft, warm grains greeted her knees pleasantly, the softness making her even sleepier. The sand was always so soft, like a blanket. That was one of the many things she'd miss once they'd left the island. She welcomed the warmth of the sand thankfully, allowing a yawn to escape her throat.
"See?"
"Hush," she instructed playfully, smiling at him.
She fully relaxed her arms, bending them backward a little to hold herself up right and trying not to get sand in her hair. Sighing and closing her eyes, she let the gentle breeze brush her bright pink hair over her cheeks back and forth. She didn't plan to sleep the day away; just a nice, short nap would sefice.
She smiled to herself quaintly and slowly shifted into a daydream. She wondered what they would find once they set sail. That is, if they even found any worlds. If not, the whole journey just would've been sadly pointless. It seemed to be bothering her more than usual, more than the dreams of course though.
She knew that Kairi and she's arrival had triggered the boys' want to go in search of other worlds. But it was almost as if now, she was almost afraid to leave. Talk about paranoid...she thought, as she disregarded the fact that before her prime motive was to not get sand in her hair by lying back onto the sand. She turned her head to the side sleepily and placed her cheek in the sand.
She'd liked the island though, when she first came, and never even once thought of leaving. But I guess now that they were older, they felt the need for alot more adventure and exposure. Which brought up the question, would they even be happy when they arrived in this newfound world?
She wondered if everyone else even thought about this kind of thing, then slowly began to drop the subject from her mind. She was getting sleepier, and actually thought she was getting a few minutes of rest from all this pondering...
Suddenly, a shrill yell erupted from the area next to her, where Sora was lying. She abruptly sat up, rubbing the sand off the side of her cheek and opening her eyes.
"I knew I'd find you two snoozing down here," Kairi mused, hovered over Sora and she.
While Sora turned over on his side, facing Kairi and complaining slightly that Kairi had startled him so, Shiloh sleepily rubbed her eyes, a bit sad that her nap had ended. Besides, it was only about a five minute nap but replenishing nevertheless.
"Wha? What happened?" she asked rather drowsily.
"You two were sleeping thats what," said Kairi, grinning at the two of them.
Shiloh blinked and rubbed her eyes again, blushing with embarrassment.
"No no! This huge black thing swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't...ow!" Sora babbled, shortly receiving a gentle knock on the head from Kairi.
"Are you still dreaming?" she asked playfully.
Shiloh raised an eyebrow at Sora's words. What in the world was Sora dreaming about nowadays?
"But it wasn't a dream!...Or was it?...I dunno," Sora questioned, turning to stare out into the crystal clear ocean. "What was that place?...So bizarre..."
"Yeah sure," Kairi said, walking around him and towards the edge of the ocean. She stood there for a second, her hair blowing back and forth as the tide welcomed the front of her shoes with its salty water.
Sora adjusted his position to kneeling on his knees, while staring out at the ocean for a brief second, then turned to Kairi and Shiloh once more. "Say Kairi, Shiloh, what were your hometowns like? Y'know, the place where you grew up? " he asked, for about the 50th time this week.
"I already told you, I don't remember," Kairi said, rather cheerfully with a slight giggle.
"Ditto," added Shiloh, sitting up and yawning tiredly.
"Nothing at all?" he questioned, curiously.
"Nothing," they both replied in unison.
"Do you guys ever wanna go back?"
"Meh, not really. My other world would've been boring without you guys anyway," Shiloh replied, winking playfully to her friends.
Sora smiled in response, looking over to Kairi afterwards. "What about you Kairi?"
"Hmm…" Kairi thought, staring out into the sparkling ocean with a thoughtful expression. "Well, I'm happy here,"
Shiloh smiled and nodded, tracing her finger through a particular patch of gritty sand next to her, while she listened to her words.
"But y'know, I wouldn't mind going to see it," said Kairi, a bit dreamily.
"I'd like to see it too," said Sora, his eyes sparkling with adventure. "Along with any other worlds out there, I wanna see them all!"
Sora's tone of voice alone showed how ambitious he was to go on this trip. Shiloh chuckled slightly at Sora's attitude, she found it so cute that Sora was so eager for everything.
She slowly stood up, hoisting herself from the warm bed of sand that had caused her little doze. Remembering that she'd forgotten to wipe the sand from her hair, she ran her fingers through the back of it vigoriously, hoping not too many of the sands grains had delved into her frost pink hair.
Kairi turned to face her two friends, her crimson hair swaying as she smiled cheerfully.
"Well, what are we waiting for?"
The minute Shiloh looked up from extracting the sand from her hair, a signature voice erupted from behind them.
"Hey, aren't you guys forgetting about me?" the voice erupted, causing them all to turn to look behind them.
Riku stood a little ways away from them, an oversized wooden log slung over his shoulder. His bold, aquamarine eyes showed clear signs of slight fatigue. Shiloh smiled to herself, she could tell Riku had been working, whilst the three of them, as usual, were busy goofing off.
"So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft?" he questioned.
Beads of sweat were planted a little above his left eyebrow, making him brush them away with the back of his hand and gaze expectantly upon them as he walked towards them. As he began to pass Sora, he tossed the log that rested on top of his shoulder upon him, making an unprepared Sora raised his arms and attempt to catch it while falling backwards.
He struggled to catch the wide log, giving a little yell, simply because he wasn't prepared for Riku's log falling on him.
After dropping his log on Sora, he made his way over to Kairi, his silver hair bobbing behind him as Kairi giggled upon his actions.
"And you're just as lazy as he is!" said Riku, speaking to Kairi.
Kairi giggled even more, taking a piece of hair between her fingers. "So you noticed,"
Riku then turned to Shiloh, who was presently enjoying this amusing scene quietly near them. A valiant-looking smile crossed his face as he continued on with his scolding.
"And you just beat Sora for bum of the month,"
Shiloh shrugged lightly, lifting up her hands innocently.
"I need my rest. If I don't rest, I can't work,"
Shaking his head, Riku exhaled deeply and slowly lowered himself onto the sand beside Shiloh.
Another giggle escaped from Kairi as she smiled and spoke cheerfully.
"Okay, we'll all work on the raft together! I'll race you,"
"Huh!?" Sora asked, turning to face Kairi with a confused expression.
"What?" questioned Riku, as if he couldn't believe he was actually being challenged by someone.
Shiloh merely groaned in response. She'd actually got some rest before she'd be forced to work, and now she'd have to be running all around the place thanks to Kairi.
Kairi giggled and raised her arms, her bracelets dangling slightly from her arms.
"Ready? GO!" she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her voice.
Sora, Riku, and Shiloh all shot each other innocent looks as they waited for a moment for anyone of them to move. Suddenly, the teens shot up from the ground and sprinted forward in a race.
Kairi immediately followed behind them, cackling while she ran at a rather slow pace. Riku ran confidently, looking over at Sora to tease him, while dodging Shiloh's many attempts to trip him.
As Sora and remained entrapped in their little competition, Shiloh let free another round of loud laughter. She stopped running for a second to view the two competitive teenage boys, running ahead into the distance.
She began to pant a bit, hunching forward and leaning on her knees. She smiled to herself. She was definitely going to miss this when they left as well. This was one of those irreplaceable, good moments that you never wanted to forget.
But the real question remained—could all good things stay that way forever?
--
After the friends' little mini race together, they all decided to get started on their preparations. Or forced rather, by Kairi to begin.
Sora had been put in charge of gathering all the neccasaties in the food area for our trip. Of course, Sora whined and complained, and stated that he'd rather sleep to rest up for the trip instead of working before it, but Kairi simply insisted that food was needd.
So, while those two were off finding food, Shiloh had been stuck working with Riku on chopping the wood for the trip. It'd already been pretty much cut, they were just sharpening up a few tough ends, and making some extra to build the raft with.
As Riku went a little ways off to find a shape of wood that he preferred, Shiloh found herself staring up at their blue Destiny Island sky once more. She wondered what would go through her mind once they wouldn't be able to see the sky anymore.
Would she go crazy? She furrowed her brows at the clouds lumbering above her, and tried to place her worries behind mentally.
Meanwhile, Riku had seemed to have come back from his stroll for remaining wood, and began to get to work.
"Daydreaming again Shi?" he asked, positioning the wood accordingly underneath an axe he held.
Snapping back rather quickly Shiloh smirked, beginning to start her job as well.
"Maybe,"
"Well get your mind out of the gutter miss, we've got a lot of work to do," he instructed.
"Hush," Shiloh scowled. She'd already cut most of the wooo the day before, so there really was no rushing to be done.
Right as Shiloh finished talking, Riku brought the axe down upon the wood with implied force, breaking it in two with a loud thok. Shiloh then took the two broken pieces, and began to tie them together with a thick rope she had.
As she tied a tight knot around both logs to keep them together, Riku exhaled deeply, grabbing another log in the process.
"Y'know Shiloh," he beckoned. "I'm the only real man here that is capable of working on the raft like this,"
Rolling her eyes, she placed the finished combination in a pile. "Oh that's not true, I'm sure Sora could do the same exact thing,"
"Suure, he could," replied Riku, the sarcasm plainly obvious in his voice. He chopped another piece and handed it to a now annoyed Shiloh.
"I don't appreciate your sarcasm Riku. You really shouldn't talk like that about your best friend," she advised, tieing another piece together.
"Oh so what? Now a guy can't have confidence?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's not confidence, that's just cockiness," she replied sharply.
"Why do you have to turn this into a debate?"
"Why do you have to act so boastful?"
"I'm not, I'm just stating what I'm capable of,"
"Well did you have to bring Sora into it?"
"It's called comparison,"
Shiloh sighed and folded her arms at him. Why were they even having such a stupid argument—she didn't need this. Looking to the side for an excuse to get away, she noticed that they'd run out of wood.
"Oh, would ya look at that, we're all out, I think I'll just go…get some more," she stated, turning on her heel and walking in the opposite direction. She could've sworn she head Riku mumble something arrogant again, but she just kept walking, planning to take as long as possible to find the remaining wood.
"Goodness Riku," she said to herself, folding her arms in front of her. "What on earth is wrong with you?"
Looking up suddenly to see if she could spot the log she was looking for, she spotted the large heap of wood, and then she spotted Sora. She was about to run and get it, but Sora had seemed to beat her to the punch by picking it up immediately. She shrugged lightly, that just meant she'd have to find another one—the longer it took, the better anyway.
But suddenly, Sora seemed to bound up to near where the Secret Place was. Shiloh blinked and cocked her head to the side, confused. She hadn't seen Sora go in there for an eternity, much the less herself.
Nevertheless, she quietly watched as he walked slowly past the small waterfall, brushing some upraised leaves out of the way, and then disappearing into the darkness of the miniature cave.
She was just about to follow Sora into the cave, when Riku suddenly came running up to her from behind. He stopped a bit short to catch his breath, then looked down at her, sighing a bit sadly.
"Hey, Shiloh…um, are you… mad at me?" he asked.
Shiloh smiled a little, looking down a bit herself.
"Well no not really, but it's just not fair to Sora when you talk about him that way," she said. "But I wouldn't get mad at you for such a stupid reason though,"
Riku nodded slightly, in thought, then smiled. "All right, I'll hold off on the bragging and such for a while, kay?"
"All right," she said, playfully flicking him in the arm. "But you'd better be telling the truth Riku,"
"I am, honest," he answered, holding his hands up innocently.
"Hey Riku, Shiloh!" yelled Sora from afar.
They both turned to look at him simultaneously. It looked like everyone had mostly done their share of work for the day, if not, everyone could finish up tomorrow.
"You wanna call it a day?" he asked.
"Sure," they both answered, beginning to walk over to their friend.
--
Shortly after, they all made their ways back to the little plateau, and resumed their positons on the bent palm tree, watching the sunset reflect off the ocean. Sora lay outstretch upon the end of the tree closest t the paopu's, while Kairi and Shiloh sat upright on the tree side by side. Whereas, Riku preferred to stand against the tree trunk, his arms folded in front of him.
The entourage watched quietly for a few minutes at the sun encased the isand in the glow from its sunset. Suddenly, Sora spoke up.
"So, do you really, think there are any other worlds out there? And of so, how far do you think the raft will take us?"
Riku shrugged lightly, now looking a bit serious, and focused.
"Well, when we get there we'll have to find out, because there are a lot of thing we don't know. But…we do know, that this world is just a little piece of something much more,"
Shiloh blinked at Riku with a bewidldered expression planted on her face. Had Riku really thought and figured all that out by himself? Sora and Kairi equally shared this expression.
"Wow…you've been thinking a lot about this, haven't you?" asked Kairi.
"Yeah, thanks to you, and Shiloh. If you guys hadn't have come here, we never would've found out about the outside worlds," said Riku, gazing out into the ocean, tainted an orangish-red by the sunset.
"Shiloh, Kairi, thanks,"
"Your welcome…" they both replied, even though Shiloh really was still wondering how he had thought about all this. Looks like Riku did have more things going on in his mind then bragging and etc.
She saw Sora cast a kind of weird look in Riku's direction, as he gave a suggestion that they should all go home and get some rest for tomorrow.
As they all began to walk back, Shiloh cast one more look over her shoulder at Riku, wanting to question him about all the information he'd just spoken, but she decided it could wait.
For a second, she was beginning to think that he knew more than her about these things…
--
The next morning came too quickly, and it seemed like an almost pointless day. But it was indeed very important, since tomorrow was the day when they would all set sail. Shiloh sat nonchalantly on the beach, unaware of what the others were really doing, and felt a bit restless. As she took in the sight of the waves covering the sand temporarily in front of her, she turned to hear a voice, almost like a whisper, behind her.
She spotted Wakka, speaking to Sora, right in front of the Secret Cave. Intrigued, she turned fully around, but remained quiet, eavesdropping on them. She'd almost forgotten that she'd planned to spy on Sora yesterday, but was interrupted by Riku abruptly.
It sounded like Wakka was planning to explore the Secret Cave tomorrow, after they'd left. She figured Sora was going in, probably just to visit before they left. For some reason, she had a strange urge to go in there too.
Standing up fully, and brushing the sand off of her legs, she slowly walked over to the Secret Cave, knowing that Sora had already gone inside. She knew she'd have to be quiet, since her prime objective was really to see what Sora was doing in there.
Shiloh, you sneaky little spy you…she thought, slowly creeping into the small cave. She remembered as a child, and how scared she felt when she first came into it. It was pretty dark, so she propped her hands up against the cold gravel, and partially felt her way through it. Miniature chalk drawings lined the walls along the way, drawn long ago by Sora, Kairi, Riku or she.
Shiloh smiled to herself, immersed in all her little childhood memories, until she heard a voice in front of her. It was obviously Sora's voice, but who in world was he talking to? She'd seen him go in alone, unless Wakka went in with him…? Shiloh looked behind her cautiously, to see if anyone else was planning on entering, then slowly crept forward more, to make out more of what Sora was saying.
"Quit freakin' me out like this!" he exclaimed rather loudly.
Shiloh flinched at Sora's loud voice, then she heard another voice. It was deep and menacing, almost monotone. She suddenly became a bit alarmed. She'd never heard that voice before, and it certainly didn't belong to anyone on the island!
Becoming more anxious and anticipated, Shiloh started to walk forward a little faster, now not really watching where she was going. As a result, her foot seemed to have snagged on a tree root, and she abruptly lost her balance. Spreading her hands out in front of her as she fell, she glared at the tree root that may have just exposed her being here.
"Stupid tree root," she hissed lowly.
"You again? C'mon! Show yourself!" Sora exclaimed, taking a step towards origin of the sound.
Shiloh remained on the cold cave floor, not moving to not give herself away at the moment.
He started towards the same spot at an even faster pace.
"Come out! I've got… mushrooms!" he said.
Shiloh snickered and shook her head. Mushrooms? She stood up quickly, holding up her hands innocently.
"Relax Sora, it's just me,"
"Huh? Shiloh! What're you doing here?" he asked. "How long were you there…?"
She giggled slightly. "Long enough to hear your mushroom threats,"
Sora gasped a bit, and looked away. "Oh! Well that was…um…"
Shiloh laughed at Sora's goofy-ness and tapped his shoulder.
"Well, c'mon. It's waay too dark in here," she said, and started back towards the cave entrance. Sora nodded merrily and followed, but turned around to take one last look at the place where the mysterious stranger had spoke to him. He hoped that Shiloh didn't hear him. He didn't who or what this person was, but it looked dangerous, and he didn't want it getting near any of his friends.
--
Now outside, Shiloh admired the welcoming glimmer of the sun gladly. She hated being closed up in dark places like that—it just wasn't her style.
"Ahh, that's much better," Shiloh said, as Sora came out shortly behind her.
As Shiloh stretched happily, Sora noticed a small charm attached to the waistline of her jet-black skirt. Sora stared at it intently, noticing it had four yellow, star shaped charms attached to it as well.
"Hey, Shiloh, you still have that charm?" he asked.
She turned around, and lifted it up in her hands, jingling it a bit with her fingers.
"Yup, I always have it on me," she replied merrily.
That charm was a special one. It had something to do with what Sora and Shiloh had did a couple of years ago, when they were very little. Sora then yawned briefly, a suggestion coming to mind.
"Well, we should probably head back to Riku and Kairi,"
"Yeah, you're right," agreed Shiloh, beginning to walk forward.
"Oh and Shiloh. We still never decided on a name for the raft…" Sora remembered, starting to walk as well.
Shiloh giggled and turned to him, the gold in her eyes dancing playfully.
"How about 'Sora's Raging Mushroom'?" she suggested.
Sora blankly stared at her and sighed a bit, chucking to himself.
"Haha, very funny Shiloh," he said, flatly.
"Why thank you," she replied, continuing to walk on.
--
Sora and Shiloh had finally reached the other side of the island, and met with Kairi and Riku there. Shiloh tiredly sat on the ground, her elbows propped up on top of her knees, while Kairi babbled on to her about Paopu fruits—or something like that.
She was really only half listening. Shiloh was a bit more focused on Riku and Sora, who were currently deciding on a way to determine who would name the raft.
"I just really wouldn't know who to pick though…" she said, looking over in Riku and Sora's direction.
Shiloh blinked, lowering her eyes. She might as well have given Kairi some advice on who to pick. She wouldn't mind being bonded to a person…but really. I mean, after all, she didn't believe in that ridiculous Paopu story. It wasn't true…right?
She though about it for a few seconds, then turned to face Kairi.
"Well…" she started.
"Hey Kairi!" Riku called from afar. "Could you start this race so we can decide who names the raft?"
"Uh sure," said Kairi, as she stood up.
Shiloh sighed with relief. She really hated the idea of Kairi waltzing over to both of them and asking them something like that, it'd make her feel…insignificant. Or something like that. She simply shook the thought away though, and hugged her knees tighter, and watched Riku and Sora get in their positions.
Kairi raised an arm to signal the beginning of the race.
"All right. Ready, set, go!" Kairi said, brining her arm down quickly.
Shiloh watched as the two boys raced off. They looked like they were neck in neck from what she could see. They took a couple f minutes to race around the small portion of the island, and back to where they had started. However, it turned out that Riku had won.
Riku smiled triumphantly, while Sora tried to convince him that he had really won.
Riku simply grinned, not really believing him, and when they asked Shiloh who she thought had won, she simply just shook her head.
--
Finally, the day seemed to be coming to a close. Shiloh really couldn't believe that this was the last Destiny Islands sunset that she'd ever see. Sora and Kairi were seated together on the small dock that was positioned right in front of the tide. They seemed to be intently focused on talking together.
Shiloh and Riku were also spending some current time alone, admiring the setting sun quietly as well. They were only a small ways apart from each other, but still, close enough for personal contact.
Riku sighed deeply, picking up a handful of sand in his gloved hands, and dropping in one specific spot to the side of him. Shiloh was quietly thinking to herself about miscellaneous things. There was still the fact that that strange voice had talked to Sora in the Secret Cave…
"So…can you wait? To go to the other world?" Riku asked her suddenly.
Shiloh shrugged a bit, her eyes still fixed on the beautiful sight in front of her. "Well, no, not really. If I could, I would actually leave today,"
"Yeah me too…" he replied, now brushing the sand of swiftly with his thumb. "But I'm kind of going to miss the island, y'know? All of our memories are here…"
"Well, we could always come back, couldn't we?" she asked worriedly, looking at him.
He turned to her with a bit of a sad expression on his face, his eyes answering her question perfectly. Shiloh looked a bit sheepish for a second, returning her gaze to the horizon once more. She carefully raised her hand to her chest, touching a small blue heart that hung from a necklace on her neck.
Riku grinned, noticing her actions. "Hey…you still have the charm…"
She smiled, remembering that Sora had asked her a similar question before. "Yeah…I've had it forever…" she replied.
"Do you remember, when we were younger, and we made that promise?" he asked.
Shiloh nodded. "Of course,"
She then watched as he pulled back the black sweatband on his arm to reveal a small bracelet with the same blue heart on it. Shiloh blinked.
"You still have it too, Riku…?"
He chuckled. "Hey, don't look so surprised. I'm wearing it for the same reason you are," he said, looking at her and raising an eyebrow.
Shiloh looked away a bit quickly, to hide the oncoming blush that was taking over her cheeks and started to reply.
"Well…yeah, I guess so. I mean, I-"
Shiloh gasped a little, for Riku had come over to where she was and hugged her tightly, much to her surprise. She looked over at Riku, a surprised expression on her face. She felt his soft breath caress her neck as she stammered to ask him.
"R-Riku…what are you-"
"Shiloh," he said, calmly.
"Y-yes?" she asked.
"I just want to let you know…whatever happens when we leave, I'll still…always protect you…" he finished.
Shiloh couldn't really believe what she was hearing. Riku was a really close friend of her and all, but she'd never felt this way around him. She never really felt so, protected around him…
"All right…I understand," she replied. "I'm going to do the same for you too…"
Shiloh then lowered her head unsurely, resting her chin on Riku's shoulder. She would've even fallen asleep if they hadn't have parted in the next few minutes.
They both didn't really have much to say after that, the awkward-ness looming over both of their heads for a while. However, Riku finally spoke up.
"Well, um…would you, like to go back with Sora and Kairi now?" he asked.
Shiloh nodded, a bit dazed, and her cheeks still tainted a deep crimson. "But…wait…Riku, can we do, one more thing, before we go?" she asked, twiddling her fingers a bit as they both stood up.
"Sure," he agreed.
"Could we go back to see the Secret Place together, just one last time?"
--
Chibi: Aww cute romance-ness (huggies Shiloh)
Shiloh: (eating paopu) Mmmm, these things are good.
Riku: (eating same one) Yeah, I know, tangy.
Chibi: OH My Gosh! You two are bonded for life now! I'll go get me camera! (dashes off)
Riku & Shiloh: O.o
Sora: (playing Kingdom Hearts on PS2)
Fan(s): We demand the use of your game console system.
Sora: (snarls) GET YOUR OWN!
Fan(s): HAND IT OVER!
Chibi: Well then, If anyone reviews for my story, I always send them a sweet personal message saying thankies! Either that or special mentions. X3
Sora (just died in game) NUUU! I died! (faints)
Fan(s): Our turns! (grabs control)
Chibi: The next chappy will be DUN DUN DUUN! The storm on Destiny Islands when the heartless invades! A lot will be revealed! (shifty eyes)
