Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Chapter 4 – Shoreline

"Why is it we always seem to end up here?" Aqua asked.

"I guess we're just drawn here for some reason," Terra mused. Holding Aqua's hand, he led her down to the waves.

Aqua pulled off her sneakers and long socks before stepping into the surf, letting the roll of the waves cool her feet off from all that dancing. She wiggled her toes in the wet sand.

"So, what did you mean?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"You said that 'we're drawn here for some reason'," she reminded him. "But you didn't say why. So, what did you mean?" She turned to face him with that ever-so-cute smile of hers.

Terra felt the hair on his neck stand up. Feeling sweat trickle down his forehead, he wiped it and said, "Whoa! It's hot today!"

"Terra, answer the question," Aqua demanded. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

"No," he said.

"Terra!"

"Fine, I'll tell you… if you can catch me first!" he shouted. And he took off running, leaving Aqua in the dust.

"Hey! Get back here!" she screeched. Aqua snatched her socks and shoes and charged after Terra.

They ran up the beach, past people who thought two strange teenagers screaming at each other was either the oddest or the funniest thing they'd ever seen.

Water seeped through Terra's sneakers when the waves lapped against them. But he ignored it, Aqua was hot on his trail.

Aqua was sprinting after Terra and he was still faster than her. Him and his accursed head starts. She narrowly avoided stepping on some sea glass by jumping over it, regaining her balance after the jump and resuming her pursuit of Terra.

They ran into a small cove and Terra was left with nowhere else to run. Aqua was closing in, so he did the most logical thing. He pulled off his sneakers, socks, and shirt, and jumped into the water. Aqua dropped her socks and sneakers and dove in after him.

They started a vicious splash war. Aqua actually used magic to create massive waves, but Terra was resisting the force of the waves. When she'd finished her first assault, Terra took the opportunity to jump on top of her, sending them down into the water.

He kept her pinned down for maybe a minute before she started hitting him, desperately gasping for air. Terra let her up and they broke through the water's surface. The second they were up, Aqua splashed her friend with more water.

"You're… impossible… you know that?" she huffed.

"And why… do you say that?" Terra teased.

"You… you almost drowned me! Good grief, Terra!"

"Sorry. I was just having so much fun."

"That still doesn't give you the right to drown me!"

"All right! All right! I'm sorry! Relax!" Terra held up his arms, a clear surrender. Mostly to avoid Aqua hailing him with more water. He couldn't take anymore.

"Now, will you please tell me what you meant back there?" Aqua asked. "About why we're drawn to the beach?"

"Let's get out of the water first," her friend said. "We'll catch colds if we're in here too long with our clothes on. I'll tell you on shore."

"Fine," the girl grumbled.

They kicked back to shore, splashing each other playfully as they went. Once on the shore, Terra lay spread eagle on his back. Aqua dropped flat on her stomach next to him, her face looking at him.

"Ready to explain?" she asked.

"Fine," Terra said. "It's like this… our names mean 'earth' and 'water', right?"

"Right." Aqua nodded.

"Well, the shore is where earth and water touch," the boy explained. "And the beach is where you see the shoreline, so I guess we're drawn to the beach because it's where our namesakes meet."

Aqua smiled. Sure Terra was a bonehead a good deal of the time, but his heart was always in the right place. That was what she liked the most about him.

"That sounded so corny… yet so sweet," she told him. She shifted her arm and put it over Terra's chest, pulling herself closer in an awkward hug.

It wasn't awkward just because of their bodies' positions. It was awkward for Aqua because when she hugged Terra, she felt the outlines of his muscles. Terra was a strong youth, that was certain, and she'd hugged him before. So, why did this feel so strange?

"Are you gonna let go of me anytime soon?" Terra asked. Seeing his smirk, Aqua withdrew her arm. Her face flushed crimson.

"Let's— Let's just get back home!" Aqua said. "By now, someone's bound to have noticed we're not in the castle."

"That's true." Terra sat up, brushed himself off, and pulled his shirt and shoes back on. Aqua shook the sand and water off her legs before pulling her socks and shoes on.

They hurried back to the alley with the manhole they always used. Terra lifted the lid for Aqua to slide in. When she told him to get in, Terra slid himself through the hole and replaced the cover like they'd never been there.

With a quick walk through the dark tunnel, Terra and Aqua made it back into the castle and to their secret passage. The problem was, they had no way of knowing if someone was waiting outside the passage or not so they couldn't just pop out of nowhere. Terra got the door to open up a centimeter before risking a peek. The hall was empty. Not even the prince, whose quarters were so close, was nearby. Terra slid the door up and he and Aqua got out, quickly resealing the passage.

They darted to Terra's room, the closest place they could think of. Luckily, they met no one on the way. When they slammed the door shut, the blood-red rays of sunset were shining through the window.

"We made it!" Aqua exclaimed. She dropped into the nearest of Terra's armchairs and Terra himself plopped down on the floor next to her.

"I had fun today, Terra."

"Me too."

"Tell me what you liked most."

"That's an easy one. Watching you dance." Terra flashed her a sweet, yet arrogant, grin.

Aqua blushed. "Uh… I…"

"What about you?" he asked.

"The splash fight!" she said hastily.

"You didn't like dancing?" Terra cocked an eyebrow.

Aqua buried her red face in the chair.

"Aqua, come on!" Terra stood up and poked her shoulder.

"Terra…"

"Something wrong?" he asked. He poked her again.

"I don't know!" She just jumped up and ran out of the room.

"Aqua! Wait!"

But she was already gone.

Aqua darted to her room, scaring a guard and a servant girl out of their minds as she passed them. She slammed the door the instant she was inside.

Aqua's room was the same size as Terra's and similarly laid out, the bed by the window balcony, dresser and closet near it and opposite the bathroom. But rather than orange and red as the color scheme, Aqua had blue and silver rugs, blankets, and such. The armchairs in the center of her room were navy colored and the table between them was mahogany.

Aqua darted over to her bed and flopped down. She shoved her head under her pillow and squeezed it, biting it and almost tearing through the fabric.

Why in the world was she blushing so insanely around Terra today?

And every time she did, this strange feeling lit up in her heart. She almost felt like her heart was swelling up like a balloon. The feeling was infuriating because she didn't understand what it was.

And yet… the feeling was so wonderful. So natural.

"What is this feeling?" Aqua muttered into the pillow. "It's so strange… yet so pleasant. What on earth is wrong with me?"

It was just a feeling. All Aqua knew was that it had to do with Terra… and she liked it.

Chapter four is finished! Alright, prepare for a time skip next chapter around say… four years.

Sorry if the ending sucked. I had a bit of writer's block and distractions don't help. I was very distracted while writing this today.

Also, there was a part in chapter one that mentions Rising Falls, you know, from Radiant Garden. The world was originally planned to be Radiant Garden, but that would mean involving characters I don't even want to have in the story. So, I edited it out and chapter one has been revised. I notice certain errors better when it's up on here than in my Word documents.