Chapter 10: Let's Be Us (youtube = watch?v=Lt5GGrY-iT4)

Memo: So...if you like Jesse McCartney, you should look up his song "Oxygen" on youtube and watch all the live performances where he serenades a girl. It makes me so jealous. X3 Anywho, hope you enjoy this chapter. This is just Kenzie...and Riku, of course. :3

your pov

"Wow...this place is huge," you murmur as Riku leads you through the aisles of the gummi ship rental store. You've never been inside of it before, and it turns out that the inside is a lot bigger than what appearances let on.

"The outside of the store doesn't do the inside justice," Riku agrees, turning down an aisle. You quickly follow, hanging on to his sleeve so you don't get lost. "So you've never ridden in a gummi ship before?"

"No," you reply. "I've never driven a car before, either."

"That I can relate to."

You watch in silence as Riku pushes a few buttons on a screen that displays different types of ships.

"But I can't believe you've never been outside of this world before," he continues, pulling you another direction.

"You might call me sheltered," you say, laughing.

"I will."

Riku smirks at you, and you match it. He's being mean, but in the nice way, if that makes any sense. ...It's amazing how well you've come to understand him in these past few months. What would you do without him?

It's exciting that you're going to where he used to live, but it's also a little bit terrifying. You're mostly afraid of his reaction. After all, his memories of his old friends were made on these islands.

"You know, I crashed my ship when I came here," he says suddenly. You immediately tense up.

"What," you snap. You didn't think you could be more nervous, but obviously you can.

"I did it on purpose, don't worry." Too late for that.

"But...why would you do that?" you ask. "Aren't these things kind of expensive?"

"...I didn't ever want to go anywhere else. I didn't want to tempt myself with going back to my home." Riku laughs, probably at the worried expression on your face. "Don't worry. I've driven a ship since then."

"Where did you go if you didn't go home?" you ask, skeptical.

"I do have friends in other worlds, you know," he tells you. You raise an eyebrow at him. "I've been to Disney Castle a few times since I got here."

"...Disney Castle?" you repeat. "Never heard of it."

"Good grief, you really are sheltered, aren't you?" Riku sighs, continuing to walk toward another part of the building. It looks like where you'll board the ship he ordered. "I have a few friends there. One of them is a King. He's always helped me out."

"A King? Geez, what did you do as a teenager? Were you a prince or a knight or something?"

"...I'll tell you about it when we get home." Riku shakes his head quickly. "My home," he corrects himself.

"..." You didn't really like the tone of his voice just then. He sounded like his past was something he'd rather not discuss. But you were honest about your past, so he has to be honest about his...and you think he knows it, too.

"...Mackenzie?"

Just a few hours later, you feel Riku shaking your shoulder gently. You must've fallen asleep while he was flying. The good news is that you're still alive, so Riku didn't crash.

"We're here," he says as you sit upright. "...You might want to change into something...lighter."

You realize you're still wearing your jacket and gloves. It was getting cold back in Hollow Bastion, but you can tell by the way the sun is pouring in that Destiny Islands won't be a frozen wasteland. Though that'd be kind of neat if it was...

"Where are we going to sleep?" you ask Riku as you slip off your jacket. It falls to the floor, your gloves following suit. "Here?"

"Probably, unless somebody offers up their house," Riku answers, shrugging a little. "...How do you feel about visiting my parents while we're here?"

"I'm okay with that if you are."

Riku doesn't respond. You can tell he definitely has mixed emotions about this whole thing.

"There's no use running from it," he finally decides. "But I'll save it for tomorrow. C'mon, let's go."

He holds out his hand to you, and you bounce over to him, taking it and walking with him out of the gummi ship. Your feet hit the sand, and you laugh, startled.

"You're wearing shoes?" Riku asks you, laughing at you. You shrug, blushing.

"I forgot it was a beach," you admit, kicking off your tennis shoes and throwing them back on the ship. Turning around, you take in your first good look of Destiny Islands.

As much as you hate judging off of first impressions, you hope that this impression is right. To say the least, it's beautiful. You can see a little waterfall and a tiny pool. There's a small little wooden shack that's built into the rock formations of the island. A huge bridge connects a tiny island onto this bigger island. And there are palm trees everywhere.

"...This is...the prettiest place I've ever seen," you gasp, eyes wide.

"I can't take that as too much of a compliment, considering the only other place you've been is Hollow Bastion," Riku teases. You pout, letting go of his hand so you can explore. "Hey! Where are you going? Come back-I didn't mean to make you mad!"

You just laugh and trot along, heading toward the shack first. There's virtually nothing inside, just a window and a staircase, which you follow up and out to a higher part of the island. The bridge is now right in front of you.

"Mackenzie!" you hear Riku shout. "If you get hurt, you're going to be in so much trouble!"

"Come catch me!" you tease him, running out onto the bridge. You hear him growl, which makes you laugh again. In no time flat you reach the little island.

"It's so pretty here," you breath, smiling brightly.

"I'll say!"

"Whaaa!" you scream as a boy about your age pops out from behind a tree.

"Hey, hey! Don't be scared!" he says, waving his hands around. "I'm a friend of Riku's! The name's Tidus!"

You fall silent as you look him over. He looks nice enough, and he definitely lives here, what with the golden brown skin and the floppy sun-kissed dirty blonde hair. His sky-blue eyes are smiling more than he is.

"Hey, long time no see!" Tidus cries as Riku approaches the two of you.

"Hey, Tidus," Riku says, smiling. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good. Same as usual." He shrugs. "Have you seen Selphie or Wakka yet? They're somewhere around here..."

"What were you up to?" Riku asks, glancing at you.

Tidus grins so brightly that it's almost blinding. "Playing hide and seek."

Riku lets out a sigh as you bust out laughing.

"How old are you?" you ask, guessing him to be around fifteen.

"Seventeen," Tidus replies proudly.

"And you still play hide and seek!" you gasp. "You guys are amazing! Can I meet the other two?"

Tidus laughs, nodding. "Sure! Come on, let's go find them!"

It's official: this is the coolest place in the universe.

"Follow me, if you think you can keep up!" Tidus looks at Riku, a challenge written all over his face.

"I would, but she'll get lost," Riku says, jabbing a thumb at you.

"Awww, she looks like she could keep up, am I right?" Tidus approaches you, grinning again. You notice flecks of hazel in his eyes.

"You bet!" you assure him, only wanting to see them race. It works.

"Okay, fine, you're on," Riku says, smirking.

"Wow, Riku, you're out of shape!" Tidus laughs as you and said blonde walk out onto a wooden platform. You see a girl with light brown hair jumping rope. She stops when she sees you.

"Ooo, who are you?" she asks, dropping the rope and bouncing over to you. Her voice is very high-pitched, but she looks about your age. "Did you fall from the sky, too?"

"Um?" You look at Tidus, who laughs, shaking his head.

"She came with Riku," he answers for you. Selphie lets out a shriek so high-pitched that you're pretty sure dogs back in Hollow Bastion just started barking.

"Riku's here?" she gasps, her hair bouncing with her body.

"He's catching up," you reply. "Hi, by the way. I'm Mackenzie."

"Hi! I'm Selphie! Nice to meet you!" She reminds you a bit of Yuffie.

Suddenly Riku appears, gasping for breath.

"Damn," he says, laughing as he pants. "I feel so old."

"You are old!" Selphie cheers, running over to him and giving him a hug. "How are you?"

"Tired," he replies, still laughing. You grin at him.

"You haven't changed a bit!" Selphie smile fades, and she puts her hands on her hips. "But why did it take so long to come back here?"

"...I had to have the right person inspire me," he answers, glancing at you. You feel yourself blush.

"Ohhhh." Selphie grins. "I see. Well, you wanna go find Wakka? I'm sure he's around here-"

"HALLOOOOO!"

You all turn to see a tall young man run in behind Riku. He has bright orange hair in a style you've never seen before. He must be Wakka.

"You rang~?" he says, his voice thick with a strange accent.

"Look who's back, Wakka!" Tidus exclaims, pointing at Riku.

"Riku! Riku! Mah mon, Riku!" Wakka laughs as he walks over to Riku, clapping him on the back. "How've you been, mon?

"Okay," Riku says, smirking. "How about you, Wakka? You haven't changed one bit, have you?"

"Nevah!" he answers, letting out a loud laugh. He then sees you. "And who's the pretty little girl? Did you bring 'er?"

"I'm Mackenzie," you reply, smiling. Wakka looks the oldest of the three. He's probably Riku's age.

"This calls for celebration!" Wakka shouts.

"Cookout?" Riku murmurs, looking at Selphie.

"Cookout!" Tidus replies, pumping his fist into the air.

Yes...this place is amazing. What have you been missing all your life?

the next day

riku's pov

You wake up earlier than anyone else, just out of habit, like you knew you would. Sitting upright, you dust the sand off of your arms and look around at your friends. They all mean a lot to you, but it's just not the same without Sora and Kairi. You can still hear their voices clearly, like you just saw them yesterday.

Standing, you look at Mackenzie, who is sound asleep next to Selphie. She seems to be really enjoying herself...good. You're glad you could give her this experience. Too bad it's under better circumstances.

You know what you have to do now, so you walk away, back toward the treehouse, where it all started.

The place looks the same as it did the day you left. There are still bloodstains in the wood; those will probably never go away. Sighing, you lean against the wall, where you used to always sit when the three of you went up here. Closing your eyes, you hear their voices, clear as day, like they're really there. They're laughing...probably because they're together again. Not in the way any of you expected, but together nevertheless.

"Riku?"

You turn your head to see Mackenzie standing in the entryway, looking at you.

"Are you okay?" she asks, walking in and sitting down next to you.

"Yeah," you murmur. "This is..."

"I know," she says, closing her eyes. "...It's so peaceful here. At least they died somewhere beautiful."

"...But what good does that do them?" you say, sighing.

"Well...maybe they're someplace beautiful now because of it," she explains. "Because that's their last memory together. ...Does that make sense?"

...You knew there was a good reason you love Mackenzie.

"...Here, come on, Mackenzie, I'll show you where they were buried," you say, standing and pulling Mackenzie up next to you.

"You know, you don't have to call me 'Mackenzie' all the time," she says, smiling.

"Then what should I call you?" you ask, smirking.

"'Kenzie.'"

"See?" You motion to the little plots of dirt in front of you. "They'll always be here. That's why I had to leave. ...It hurt too much to stay with them."

"...I understand," Kenzie says, frowning. "But I don't think I would complain if I had to stay here forever. It's beautiful, and your other friends are amazing."

"Haha, yeah...they're a special bunch," you murmur, chuckling quietly.

"If you ever did decide to come back, would you take me with you?" she suddenly asks.

"What? Why?"

She shrugs, grinning. "Because I love it here. I seriously want to stay here forever."

You smile. "Maybe someday, then."

a few days later

your pov

"Ugh," you groan, frowning. "Today is our last day here. Can't we stay a little longer?"

"No, you have work, remember?" Riku reminds you. You shrug.

"I'll quit," you say, smiling. You'd give anything to spend a lifetime like this, sitting here on the end of this dock, swinging your bare feet like a little kid. Who'd want to leave? ...Riku would.

"Don't quit your job because of me," Riku laughs. You laugh, too.

"It's not because of you-it's because of this place." You pause. "...And, yeah, because of you, too..."

Riku smirks at you, then kisses you on the cheek. You smile.

"...I think I have this thing for red-heads," Riku suddenly admits, making you laugh out loud.

"So if I dyed my hair..."

"You wouldn't. I know you wouldn't."

"I dunno, because you just said that-"

Riku kisses you to stop your protest. Hmm...maybe you should go on little rants more often.

"...I want ice cream," you say suddenly. Riku laughs quietly. "Hah, hey, do you remember that time last year when you bought me ice cream in winter? It was so cold outside, but you did it anyway."

"...What?"

You frown, looking Riku in the eye. "Don't you remember?" That memory is so vivid...you'll never forget it.

"...Kenzie, I didn't even know you last winter," Riku says, frowning.

"What...?" You squint your eyes, looking out at the water. "...Then why do I have that memory of you?"

Riku doesn't answer, the frown still on his face. You sigh quietly. When did that happen? You can picture it perfectly.

"...Maybe I was dreaming," you finally decide. "I must've been."

"Knowing you, probably," Riku teases, smiling again.

"...Can't we stay here forever?" you ask. "Do we really have to go back? I love it here."

Riku doesn't answer you. He's obviously still thinking about your previous conversation.

"I want to stay here forever," you repeat.

And, to your surprise, Riku stays silent.