Chapter three

"Sora, I'm worried," Kairi murmured, "really worried… They still haven't come back yet… What if Riku got mad at Yuffie and hurt her? What if Riku did something really bad or careless? What if he killed himself?! Sora?!" Kairi's voice was high and shrill; Riku had never been that mad at her before.

"I know! Don't you think I'm thinking about that?!"

Kairi fell silent; slightly startled by Sora's frustrated response.

"Alright," said Leon massaging his temple, "what exactly did you guys do?"

Nobody said anything.

"Aerith?" Aerith looked at the floor and played with her braid.

"Kairi?" Kairi fiddled around with the purple ribbon on her bag/purse/thing.

"Sora?" Sora hummed tunelessly and kicked his feet up and down.

Leon decided Sora was the weakest link.

"Sora?"

"You want to talk about it? Sora? Sora?"

Sora bit his lip and determinedly avoided Leon's gaze.

"C'mon Sora, please? I know you won't let me down. Want to tell me what happened?" Leon prompted.

"Nope."

"No?"

"Yes… 'Nope'."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Jesus, Leon give him a brake!" Aerith shouted shrilly.

Silences set in again. Everyone was looking around uncomfortably.

"SO should we wait for them or go to sleep?"

No one answered. Cid looked around hopefully at all of them and grunted when they didn't answer.

"I'll take that as a: 'Cid just shut the hell up and get out of our way, you dumb ass!'" Cid grumbled as he flopped down in his sleeping bag and went to sleep.

Once again a hushed silence fell over the entire room. Leon was leaning against the wall staring at Sora and Kairi wondering what on Earth they could've done to make their "best friend" so pissed. Cloud was watching Aerith worriedly; she was still twisting her golden brown hair around in concern. Cid's back was rising in slow motions.

Kairi and Sora's eyes were flitting in between each other and the window.

After a while Leon moved over the window and watched the street intently. Minutes ticked by slowly until finally a quarter of an hour had passed and there still was no sign of the crazy ninja or the teenage angst bucket.

"Hey! There they are!"

Sora and Kairi bolted for the window followed by an extremely nervous Aerith and a highly confused Cloud.

Yuffie and Riku were walking up toward the house slowly.

And hand in hand.

"Um… Whoa… Did we miss something?" asked Cloud.

"Uh… I guess so," replied Kairi pressing her face into the glass for an even better view of the two love birds.

After three minutes the doorbell rang and Riku and Yuffie were standing in the doorway. When they came in and started taking off their shoes, the gang that had stayed at Sora's noted the Riku's eyes were a little red and puffy.

Hmmm… This requires further investigation… thought Aerith and Kairi simultaneously in their minds. Riku sighed grumpily before turning on Sora.

"Right," he began sternly as Sora shrank back a little under his penetrating stare, "this is how it's gonna be: 1) no more funny business, if I catch one whiff of trouble you guys," his eyes swept over Aerith, Kairi and Sora glaringly, "are dead. And I mean it. I will find out if you guys try anything else," he paused for breath, "2) we never speak of this again. It's done and in the past. But you better not try it again. Got it?" Fervent nodding, "Okay… 3) I'm… I'll tell you later…" He walked away leaving the rest of the group standing by the door.

"Wait… What are you gonna tell us later?" asked Sora.

Riku waved a hand over his shoulder breezily to brush it off.

Sora and the others shrugged and followed Riku into the living room where Riku was lying down in a sleeping bag; already half-asleep.

"Yuffie?"

Everyone turned to look at the ninja girl who was smiling mysteriously.

"What happened?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," she chirped as she too went and picked out a sleeping bag. Once again the group as a whole decided they'd find out later and one by one they all picked a spot to sleep.

The next morning the gang woke up, ate breakfast, and (going along with Riku's list of demands) they did not mention last night's events at all. It was as if it had never happened. Even Riku and Yuffie were perfectly normal with each other. Well sort of…

All the others had to admit… you couldn't really call this normal

"So how's your day been so far?"

Silver hair shifted a little as Riku turned to look up at Yuffie who was staring politely down at him.

"Oh, it's been fine… And yours?"

"Splendid."

It was definetly one of the creepier days in Kairi and Sora's teenage lives.

"Um, are you guys going to keep this up all morning?" asked Cloud eyeing the two.

"Keep what up?"

"Yes, Cloud, whatever do you mean?"

"Um… You know… talking like this…" Cloud's voice trailed off as the harsh reality that these two were going to remain stubborn about acting like this set in.

"Acting like what?"

"Yes, I'm afraid I don't understand you."

"Would you care to elaborate on that?"

"Oh yes, please do."

"Um… uh… well… you know… er…" Cloud's hand fell to his side uselessly.

"I think he means," Leon butted in, "you guys are acting really polite and it's kind of weird… So we were just wondering when you were planning on stopping this."

Kairi and Sora looked at Leon in awe. Wow, thought both of them, Leon's so commanding… How mature!

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about," said Riku coldly getting up, "so if you don't mind I'll just be leaving now."

"Yes that sounds like a simply wonderful idea," Yuffie added in a stuffy voice.

When they reached the door Riku stopped and opened it for Yuffie.

"Ladies first."

"Why thank you. How thoughtful."

Their exchange was stiff and almost forced.

When the door slammed shut everyone ran over to the window and watched Yuffie head right down the street as Riku went left, towards the beach.

"I'll take Riku," said Sora turning to Leon, "you take Yuffie."

Leon sighed and rubbed his forehead. This was going to take some working out.

"Riku! Hey Riku!"

Riku turned around to see Sora running to catch up with him.

"What do you want?" he asked bluntly; polite act completely gone and out the window. Sora looked a little taken aback when he realized Riku wasn't sugar-coating his voice anymore.

"So you're only doing that around Yuffie?" he asked rubbing the back of his neck.

"What are you talking about?" asked Riku coldly, stuffing his hands further into his pant's pockets.

"You know what I mean," said Sora sternly, cobalt blue eyes narrowing dangerously. Riku sighed and his shoulders slumped.

"Yeah… okay…" he muttered.

"Why are you doing this?" Sora asked quietly.

"…"

"C'mon Riku," Sora prodded gently, carefully avoiding any sore spots, "What are you two trying to accomplish by acting like this?"

"I don't know," Riku admitted in defeat.

"Well, to tell you the truth," said Sora in that maternal child-like tone only he could master, "to be honest it looks really stupid." Riku bristled at that comment.

"Whatever," he said darkly, Sora took a deep breath; he was treading on dangerous ground.

"Well, are you planning on stopping anytime soon?" asked Sora delicately.

"I'll stop when she stops," huffed Riku, sounding very much like a little kid.

"Okay Riku…" said Sora slowly eyeing his best friend.

"What?" asked Riku noticing Sora's gaze.

"Nothing, never mind."

"Whatever," came the cold reply.

"Hey Riku?"

"What?" Oh, snappish.

"What was it you were going to tell us later?" asked Sora; bracing himself for yelling and frustrated cries of hatred.

"Oh that…"

Sora looked up when he heard Riku's soft tone. Riku was facing away from him, his shoulders were slumped and he was shaking a little. Sora couldn't tell for sure but he could've sworn he heard a sniff.

"It's just… it's nothing…" Riku's voice was less than a whisper and Sora had to lean in to hear him.

"Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather tell me now while no one else is around?" asked Sora; the brunette smirked when he saw Riku's back stiffen. He knew he'd hit the mark, it was obvious from last night it wasn't something Riku didn't want to say in front of a group of people.

Riku sighed and turned to face Sora. Sora had to keep his face impassive, if only to cover up the look of concern that had popped up for a second when he'd noticed Riku's red rimmed eyes and quickly reddening nose.

"It's just that… I'm… I'm sorry…"

"Wha?" Sora had to keep from falling over.

That's it? I was kind of expecting something more… dramatic and angsty… more like Riku… 'King of the Angst Buckets'… Heh heh… Oh wait! Riku's talking again!

"I know you and Kairi are really used to looking up to me and… whatever… all that 'brotherly stuff'… well… I also know that lately… I've been really… um… self-absorbed? Yeah… something like that…"

"Riku what-

Riku held up a hand to silence Sora's questions.

"Let me finish 'kay? This isn't easy for me, doofus, and I don't want to get interrupted," Sora nodded and Riku's speech resumed, "So like I was saying… I'm really sorry… I just keep letting you and Kairi down and it's not fair for me to get so upset… I don't deserve it…"

"Deserve what?" asked Sora, then he clamped a hand over his mouth remembering Riku's orders. But it didn't look like the silver haired teen minded. He didn't seem to paying much attention to his surroundings.

"Feeling depressed… I mean after everything I've done I'm still just moping around and pushing my problems on you all…"

Riku's voice sounded so distant and his eyes had that faraway gleam that Sora remembered Riku getting beck when they were making the raft.

"Riku, that's not true," said Sora softly.

Riku turned to face Sora; the hardened look returning into his eyes that Sora had grown so accustomed to the past year or so, "Oh, please… Spare me… I'm a total idiot and you know it."

"No you're not!" said Sora raising his voice, "Your only problem is that you can't see that everyone else has forgiven you! You just need to forgive yourself…"

"You just don't get it do you?" asked Riku icily, "It doesn't matter if you guys forgive me or not! None of that crap matters, cause in the end I still don't deserve it!"

Riku stormed off leaving Sora standing there at a loss.

I thought I was getting to him…

"Yuffie, let's try to make this as painless as possible."

Yuffie's head whirled around to face Leon's, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Don't start with me Leon, I don't need your lectures. Got it?"

"Yuffie," Leon began tiredly rubbing the bridge of his nose, "listen to me. I'm your friend. So listen to what I have to say. Alright? Good." He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Yuffie, you and Riku can't keep this up you know."

A snort, "Think I don't know that? Jesus, Leon, it's his own fault for acting so stupid. I have no problems… Go talk to Mr. Emo. He's the one who started… And you know what? You can tell him Yuffie said: "I'll stop when you stop, dumbass."

Yuffie walked away stuffily.

Leon cursed under his breath.

Oh well… Maybe Sora's having better luck with Riku…

Riku cursed under his breath as he sat on the beach, the very picture of an angst driven teen. Riku could have been a model for one of those pictures of "troubled teens" you see in Health books and parenting magazines. Riku almost laughed as the image of him as a model crossed his mind's eye.

"Hey Riku!"

"Oh… Hey Tidus…"

"Something wrong? You're all by yourself," said Tidus.

"So are you," Riku pointed out numbly, "where's Selphie and Wakka?"

"Wakka's off on a date with Lulu and Selphie's off spying on the two," said Tidus, he seemed unfazed by Riku's attitude.

"Why aren't you off stalking them along with her?" he asked bluntly; not even bothering to cover up his impatience.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" asked Tidus blandly.

"I honestly couldn't give a damn over whether or not you hang around bugging me," said Riku flatly. Tidus's smile only widened.

"Suit yourself," he said smirking, for a moment Riku thought he was going to leave him alone, but then to his great surprise Tidus sat down next to him, "If you're sure you don't mind." Tidus smirked at the look of annoyance on Riku's face.

"Whatever," he scoffed, quickly covering up his look of irritation with one of cold indifference.

"So," said Tidus leaning back casually, "did you and Kairi and Sora have a fight or something? You seem pretty pissed off about something."

"I'm not mad about anything Tidus, and stop swearing… You're really bad at it."

"That's true," said Tidus laughing a little, "I'm nothing compared to you, eh? Mr. Potty-mouth?" Riku bristled at that one.

He quickly turned his cough of indignation into a cough, aqua eyes glancing over at the sandy-haired boy.

"You want to talk about?"

"With who? You? Since when have you been Mr. Understanding?" asked Riku sarcastically.

"Well, I just figured you'd like to talk it over with a neutral third party," said Tidus matter-of-factly.

"And that would be you?" asked Riku.

"Well… If you don't want to," said Tidus wearily and he sighed and got up.

"Leaving?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" asked Tidus smiling at Riku knowingly.

"N- No, of course not!" stuttered Riku, and Tidus's smile grew.

"Well, if you're sure," he said taking a few steps away.

"Thanks for trying though."

Tidus's eyes widened and he turned to look at Riku; who was looking at the floor determinedly.

"For what?" asked the younger of the two.

"Trying to make me feel better."

Tidus smiled good-naturedly, "Anytime."

"Whatever."

And with that Tidus walked away.

That Riku… He's so stubborn… and predictable… Maybe mom was right about me being better at being a psychologist than playing blitzball… Oh well… Wonder what's got Riku so miffed…

"Kairi! Kairi!"

"Sora? What's wrong?" Kairi was sitting in her bedroom at home putting her stuff she'd brought to Sora's house for the sleep over away. She turned to just in time to catch a glimpse of wild, brown, spiky hair come flying at her.

Suddenly she felt a weight on her lap and slowly she looked down to see Sora crying on her lap.

"Sora? What happened? Did you catch up with Riku?" Kairi asked. Sora choked out a 'yes' and Kairi's worry increased ten-fold.

"Well… what's wrong?" she asked.

"He's so… why does he always push us away when we try to help him?" asked Sora in a strained voice. Big puffy blue eyes stared up at Kairi.

Kairi's heart gave a twinge of pain looking down at Sora in this state. Sora's sobs became muffled as Kairi bent over to hug him; pressing him closely into her chest.

Neither kid was aware of the other couple watching them.

"Aw, Kairi and Sora are so cute together," sighed Aerith dreamily.

"Yeah," agreed Cloud, "Kairi's good for him."

"You're right," said Aerith, "you know," she added looking up at Cloud, "Sora may not look it but deep down he's really pretty sweet."

"He's not the only one," murmured Cloud softly, eyes not leaving Aerith's face; which was quickly turning red.

"Yeah," whispered Aerith looking down at the floor a little, "you are too…"

"Actually," said Cloud, "I was talking about you… but that's okay. You're idea works too."

Aerith laughed a little as Cloud pulled her closer.

"Hey, I've got an idea," said Cloud.

"What is it?" asked Aerith peering up at Cloud curiously.

"Why don't we go for a walk? Sora told me there were some great ice cream shops nearby… I'm pretty sure we could go to those places without getting lost."

"How nearby?" asked Aerith stifling a little yawn, "I'm kind of tired from the sleep over."
"Hm," Cloud looked down at Aerith thoughtfully, "That's not a problem. If you fall asleep I can carry you."

"I'll bet," said Aerith smiling cutely.

"C'mon," said Cloud, grabbing her by the hand and leading her to the doorway.

"Okay…" said a very sleepy Aerith.

It took about twenty minutes to reach the nearest ice cream shop, but overall Cloud was right. The shop was close enough so that no one new to the Islands would get lost going there.

"Sora was right," said Aerith in awe as she checked out the pink themed shop, "this place is so cute!" Cloud seemed to be a little nervous being surrounded by so much pink.

"Uh-huh," he said dismally, but Aerith didn't seem to notice his tone.

"C'mon! What flavor do you want to get?" asked Aerith tugging at his sleeve.

"Um… uh…" Cloud eyed the assortment of colorful flavors, "Paopu." He said deciding finally.

"Really?" asked Aerith with wide-eyes, "Wow, Cloud I didn't think you liked really sweet stuff."

"Sorry," said Cloud.

"No that's okay. Oh, I know!" Aerith looked at Cloud smiling brightly, "Why don't I get cherry and then we can share!"

"That sounds good," said Cloud nodding a little.

"Okay," said Aerith turning to the cash register person, "one cherry and one paopu."

"Coming, right up ma'am," chimed the girl behind the counter.

Aerith and Cloud waited for their orders by the counter. When they arrived the two headed over to a seat by the window and sat down; they had a great view of the beach from their position.

"Hey Aerith," said Cloud thoughtfully.

"Yes?" asked Aerith turning her attention to the blonde man.

"You know what you said about Riku being the best looking guy in the room? Well… You didn't really believe that do you?" Aerith's head snapped up and she stared at Cloud from across the table.

"Wha? Of course not! I'm not really into guys with long hair!" she said quickly.

"Really?" asked Cloud hopefully, then he looked back down at the table, "So… what kind of guys do you like?"

"Hm…" said Aerith, "well I don't want to stereo type but… I think I like guys who have blonde spiky hair. Cloud looked up to see Aerith smiling widely from across the table, he smiled.

He took another bite of his ice cream and leaned as far over the table as he could go. Planting his lips firmly on Aerith's light pink ones.

Everyone in the ice cream shop turned to look at the couple and giggled. When Cloud pulled away he didn't have anymore ice cream in his mouth, but Aerith's was full to the brim with paopu.

And she had to admit, paopu had never tasted sweeter.

ChibiFrubaGirl: Well what do you think? I tried my best on the AerithxCloud moment… I hope it was to your liking Tweetiepie987… Please REVIEW!!!

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