Author's Note: So...I finally bumped the rating of this fic to M, so now pretty much, expect anything to happen at anytime.

Chapter 7: The Paopu Tree

The moonlight's silver glow reflected off the ocean and again off of Sora's eyes. He had been sitting on the beach for a couple hours. Thoughts of the breakup and memories of him and Rinoa flowed through Sora's mind similarly to how the ocean's current shifted to and from the shore.

Now what was Sora supposed to do? Was he supposed to just act like him and Rinoa never happened? The better question was why did it happen? Was their relationship a lie? Was Rinoa lying? Was this a similar situation to what Kairi dealt with? All it did was cause more confusion for Sora.

Sora shut his eyes before lying back down on the tree he was sitting on. Within his perfect view, he could see Paopu fruits hanging from the branches above him. It was a Destiny Islands tradition that couples would exchange a Paopu fruit as a ritual that would bind them for all eternity. Sora couldn't help but think, what if I asked her to share a Paopu fruit? Would've things been different?

After heaving a heavy sigh, Sora stood up on the tree and reached up for one of the fruits. He sat on the tree and played with it in his hands. Sure, it sounded silly for Sora to consider taking part in the ritual considering it was more of a marriage ritual, but with him being 18 now, Sora wanted to really think about what his future held for him. What was his career going to be? Where did he want to live? Who was he going to marry and raise a family with?

"Sora!' Kairi called out as she came running over to the tree.

Sora chuckled. "You made it."

"Sorry, My parents made me wait until after dinner to come out, and then I don't have much time since I have to be back by 9."

"Gotcha." Sora extended his hand and helped Kairi onto the tree. The two sat and stared into the moonlight. "So, how was dinner?" Sora awkwardly asked breaking the silence.

"It was good," Kairi answered. "So, what's going on? You sounded weird in your texts."

Sora sighed, getting to the point. "Rinoa broke up with me."

"WHAT? Why? How?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Sora rested his hands on the back of his head. "She wasn't exactly clear. She tried to say that she didn't truly have feelings for me, but I'm not buying it." Sora balled his hand into a fist and pounded the tree with it. "I just know that it's another guy...because that's how my dating history has been."

"Welcome to the club." Kairi said sarcastically. Suddenly, her fuse grew short. "Dammit! I can't believe she did that to you!" Kairi's hands balled into fists. "Why I oughta—"

"—Whoa! Easy, Kai!" Sora said lowering Kairi's fists. "That's my job, to take out your ex-boyfriends."

Kairi sighed. "I know, I know."

"But thanks."

Sora smiled as he rubbed Kairi's back. She giggled before returning the smile. The two of them couldn't help but gaze into each other's eyes. They couldn't figure out why, but it just seemed like the perfect distraction to whatever negativity was clouding their minds. Any average person could see there was a special connection between Sora and Kairi simply by how they looked at each other.

Kairi heard a bigger wave crash against the shore. She looked in the direction of the water and suddenly got an idea. After hopping off the tree, Kairi kicked off her shoes and started running down the hill. Sora laughed and shook his head at his best friend's randomness. She always had a way of suddenly getting ideas, which would or wouldn't get them in trouble.

"Where are you going?" Sora called out.

Kairi laughed. "Let's go get our feet wet!"

"It's too cold for that"

"Aww, you're not afraid of cold water, are you?" She teased.

Sora scoffed. "Me? No way!"

"Then come on! I'll race you down!"

"Alright, fine!" Sora gave in and hopped off the tree, taking his shoes off afterwards. "Just give me one se—"

"—Okay! Ready! Go!" Kairi interrupted before running off giggling.

"I don't think so, cheater!"

Sora groaned as he ran after Kairi. As a naturally, fast runner, he managed to catch up with Kairi. She squealed as he grabbed her from behind. He lightly shoved her to the ground allowing him to get ahead. Instead of surrendering, Kairi ran ahead and jumped on Sora's back. He ended up giving her a piggyback ride down to the water.

"Just beautiful…" Kairi said as she gazed into the ocean while holding onto Sora.

Sora smiled as his grip on Kairi tightened "Yeah, it sure is." He set her down before bending down to pick up a seashell. It was one of those seashells that looked like a conch shell. "Here Kairi," Sora took Kairi's hand and placed the shell in it. "I know these are your favorite shells."

"Aww, that's so sweet." Kairi smiled and fiddled with the shell. "Thanks." She looked down and blushed. "I hope I don't sound stupid saying this, but being with you...just always makes me forget everything that's wrong, you know?"

"Yeah," Sora smiled and pulled Kairi into a hug. "Thanks for being there for me."

Kairi tightened the hug. "Anytime, and thanks for being there for me too."

Sora broke the hug and got a good luck at Kairi's face. "Anything for my girl." He pulled Kairi back in for another hug.

"But…I wish I could get back at him…"

"Revenge, huh?" Sora asked as they broke the hug. "I'm up for breaking some bones." He jokes as he put his arms behind his head.

Sora and Kairi, giving up on how cold the ocean's water was, walked back to where the paopu tree was. They hopped back onto the tree. Although it was silent, it wasn't awkward. Despite all that the two of them had been through, it seemed right to just sit beside each other and embrace the peaceful nature of the beach. The sound of the waves echoed through the night and the chilly breeze blew through their hair. How could the evening get better than this? There was a way, but neither Kairi, nor Sora would know about this for a while.

Kairi couldn't help but look at the paopu fruits above her. She had learned about the legend and tradition of the paopu fruits when she moved to the island a few years back. Immediately, she fell in love with the legend and wanted to take part in that tradition one day when she found the right guy. She looked over at Sora, who still had the paopu fruit sitting next to him on the tree. Kairi became curious, as usual.

"So...the paopu fruit?" she asked pointing to the fruit.

Sora frowned. "Oh yeah, it's nothing." He exhaled deeply. "It's just that...I started to think tonight on how things could've been different between me and Rinoa. Like, what if I asked her to share the paopu? Or been more serious with my feelings for her? I just...wish I knew where I went wrong."

Kairi placed her hand on Sora's shoulder. "You weren't in love with her?"

"I've never been in love with anyone." Sora said shaking his head. "After my dating history, the idea scares me a little."

"Unfortunately, I fall in love too quickly. It makes me wonder if my feelings are ever true." Kairi placed a hand on her heart. "But not this time. I can't be young and stupid, and just fall in love with a guy because he's so, 'hot and cool'. After high school ends, everything changes. I'll have to start really thinking about who I want to be with." She held her head low. "At the end of the day, it'll hurt me if I don't."

Sora looked over at Kairi. "Were you...in love with Bickson?"

"I want to say I was, but looking back, I don't know if that was feelings...or hormones." Kairi frowned as she finished speaking.

"Kairi…" Sora began as he scooted closer. He wrapped his arm around Kairi. "Did you guys...have sex?" Tears ran down Kairi's cheeks as she hid her face in her arms. "So, that's why the rumors bothered you so much."

"It was unprotected, too." Kairi kept her face hidden. "For all I know, the rumors can be true. I don't know. My parents have no idea about us sleeping together, so I can't ask them to take me to get tested. The only things I know is that I got lucky and didn't get pregnant and I regret it." She lifted her face up and looked at Sora. Her red, teary eyes stared into Sora's sympathetic ones. "I wanted to wait, and save myself for a very special guy that I was in love with, but instead, between him pushing me, and my own personal urges, I caved in."

Sora pulled Kairi closer to him. "I'm sorry." He shut his eyes and rested his head on Kairi's. "I wish I could fix everything he's done to you. I missed having the feisty, cheerful, adorable Kairi that you've always been." Sora smiled as he wiped the tears from Kairi's face.

Kairi smiled back. It always seemed like Sora's smile was so contagious. "Well, it's in the past. I've moved on...sort of. I still would like to get some sweet, innocent revenge on Bickson."

"Well," Sora said as he hopped off the tree. "If we're gonna work on revenge plots, how about we do it over ice cream?" He held out his hand. "My treat?"

Kairi took Sora's hand and hopped off the tree. "I never refuse ice cream."

Despite how chilly the evening was, Sora and Kairi made the walk from the beach to the ice cream store that was located just about 15 minutes away on foot. This particular ice cream shop was very popular with kids and teens, especially during the spring and summer when everybody's hitting up the beach. This shop had the highly coveted sea-salt ice cream bars. The owner of the shop's father invented the recipe and shared it with his three sons who all opened ice cream shops in Twilight Town, Destiny Islands, and Radiant Garden with the sea-salt ice cream bar being the star of the show.

Kairi sat at a table just outside the ice cream shop while Sora ran in and ordered their desserts. He got two sea-salt ice cream bars and a bottle of water. The store was pretty slow that night since it was a school night. Most of the customers at the shop were older couples, or individuals that were a little older than Sora and Kairi. Sora walked back down and handed one of the ice cream bars to Kairi. As he sat down in the seat across from Kairi, he also set the bottle of water directly in front of her.

Sora laughed. "I know you always get extra thirsty when you eat ice cream."

"Thanks!" Kairi said as she took the water. She and Sora began to munch on their ice cream bars. "I remember back when things were simpler and dating wasn't such a complicated thing. You know, just simple hangouts, like this?"

"Yeah," Sora nodded. "So, when did you start liking guys?"

Kairi thought for a moment. "I think my first crush on a boy was when I was 8, and I started to become really interested when I was 12. My first date was a dance in the 7th grade." She sighed. "Simpler times, indeed. What about you? When did you start liking girls?"

"Oh boy, I remember that." Sora leaned back in his seat. "The first day of eighth grade, it was me, Roxas, and Riku. We were 13, and Riku's older brother gave us a lecture on how being the 'big fish' at middle school meant all the girls were going to be clinging onto us like bees on a flower nectar." He sighed. "He couldn't have been more right. All three of us had our first girlfriends that year."

"Who was first?" Kairi teased.

"Oh! Riku for sure! He had already asked out a girl the first day!" Sora laughed. "We were walking the halls to our classes and suddenly, a cute girl out of nowhere starts sending 'the look' to him. Before we knew it, Riku had his first girlfriend. Poor Roxas, on the other hand, you know how shy he is when it comes to girls. Girls would come onto him and he would just be so shy and awkward that it was almost like dating a piece of cardboard."

"What about you?"

Sora sighed. "I fell for the dreaded 'crazy about girls syndrome'. There were a lot of girls that I liked in the 8th grade, but I didn't have my first girlfriend until the second half of the year. It didn't last very long. I got dumped after a couple months. I was sad and thought I would never have another girlfriend again." He paused. "But then...you moved here, and we became good friends right away, and I forgot all about it."

Kairi nibbled on her ice cream. "We seem to have that effect on each other."

"This is why I love talking to you and hanging out with you." Sora heaved a sigh. "Riku and Roxas are great friends, but when it comes to stuff like this, Roxas isn't the best contendent for relationship advice and Riku isn't the most sensitive. You just make it so easy to talk about these things."

"Thanks," she said putting her hair behind her ear. "I try."

Sora smiled at Kairi locking her eyes in his. There was just something about her that felt right to him. It didn't matter how bad things got. Kairi felt the same. Despite how low she sank after she and Bickson split up, Sora never gave up on her and fought to make sure she never lost herself. Kairi swore she would do the same for him. Sora moved his hand and rested it on top of Kairi's. Between his sensitive gaze and the warmth of his hand, Kairi felt shivers run through her body. Her cheeks flushed red.

An older couple passed by Sora and Kairi. "Aww, look at the sweet, young couple." The older woman said to her husband.

The man put his arm around his wife. "Just like how we were all those years ago."

Kairi and Sora laughed as they each brought their hands back to themselves. "That's pretty funny." Kairi said. "They thought we were a couple." She quickly nibbled on her ice cream bar.

"Yeah," Sora let out a small laugh. He thought for a moment before gasping. "Wait! I got it!" Kairi perked up. "We should date!"

"Excuse me?" Kairi asked looking at Sora funny.

"Think about it," Sora began. "Take it from your best guy friend. The best way to cripple a guy, is to attack from inside. Go after his ego. Guys like Bickson have especially big egos. Why do think he tried to bring you down after you two broke up?" He paused. Kairi slowly nodded as she began to understand. "It's because it made him look good. It inflated his ego, big time. You wanna get revenge? Then act like what he did to you doesn't affect you. Or, take it a step further, get a new boyfriend that easily replaces him. It'll drive him crazy."

Kairi leaned in. "Funny enough, and I'm willing to admit it, but we, girls, are like a rollercoaster when it comes to emotions and romantic feelings."

"Tell me about it." Sora heavily exhaled. "I try really hard to understand women, but sometimes, I just...don't get them!" He sank into his seat. "One minute they want you every minute of the day, the next day, they can't stand you, another day, they act like one of the guys with you...I'm so confused!"

"It only gets worse when women break up with you" Kairi said shaking her head. "Unless the breakup was on bad terms, chances are, she's gonna come running back to you."

"You think so?" Sora asked perking up.

"Sounds like she's confused and unsure about her feelings for you and doesn't want to take any steps forward unless she knows for sure." Kairi paused and gave Sora a sneaky look. "You want to get her crawling back to you? Make her jealous! Get another girl in your life as soon as you can. That'll drive her crazy, she'll figure out whatever she's confused about, and then she'll suddenly realize that she made a huge mistake dumping you and come crawling back to you!" Kairi clicked her tongue after she finished. Sora's eyebrows slowly raised up. "It's easy to make a girl jealous when it comes to guys, trust me."

"Kairi," Sora began. "You're a genius. So, basically what we're getting at is that you'll date me to get revenge on your ex and I'm going to date you to make Rinoa jealous enough that she'll come crawling back to me!"

"I think we're onto something." Kairi nodded. "So...when do we start…'dating'?"

Sora thought for a moment. "Let's start tomorrow at school?" Kairi nodded. "Alright then, I guess we're…'boyfriend and girlfriend'?"

Kairi smiled. "I...guess we are, but only temporarily, right?"

"Yeah of course!" Sora nodded. "We're talking only a few weeks, maybe a month. Unless Rinoa responds quicker than that, of course."

"Okay," Kairi held out her hand. "We got a deal!"

Sora took her hand. "Deal!"

Author's Note: Well, well, this will be interesting...hehe...Also, sorry this was a shorter chapter -_-