I know, I know. I haven't updated in a while. I'm not going to make excuses; I was procrastinating. TV is a curse...

I was going to make this chapter a little longer, but I figured you deserved an update sooner than later and it was a good time to break. Hopefully I'll get more writing done in the mornings before I work. Remember to keep on my ass, and badger me to keep writing. Reviews keep me motivated!

Just one more thing before moving on to the chapter. I've been seeing a lot of guests posting suggestions, and even demands, in their reviews. I'd just like to say that this is MY story, not yours, and we are passed the point of suggestions. I have the plot fully thought out, and I know when characters will appear. So do not tell me to put Namine in the next chapter, do not tell me to make Xion have long hair, and DO NOT tell me what to write. Criticism and suggestions to improve my writing are still welcome, but it is your job as the reader to sit tight and read what I post. Imagine this is a book that gets posted a chapter at a time. Everything is already imagined. I'm not telling you to stop rooting for your favorite pair; that's your opinion and position. But I'm just telling you that no matter what you say and who you support, I know who will end up with who. That's all.

And now, after the important rant, onto the chapter.

You know that nauseating feeling you sometimes get in your stomach when you're anxious? Like a string has been attached to the center of your stomach and someone is tugging on it, moving it in all directions to the point where you feel sick. I had that feeling now. My friend Naminé called it moths, because you've got a fluttering in your stomach like butterflies, but it's not exactly welcome. Butterflies brought a happiness and excitement. Moths brought apprehension and queasiness.

I didn't understand why my stomach had been harboring moths rather than butterflies, but as soon as I heard that Sora was my canoeing partner, the chrysalis inside me burst open and flapping wings and fuzzy antennae tickled my sphincter. Sora was a great guy. I should have been thrilled I was teamed up with him. But something wasn't sitting right with me. I was nervous beyond belief and my head was swimming.

I nearly screamed when Sora tapped my shoulder.

I jumped and whirled to face him with an expression of terror. He was taken aback and immediately looked remorseful. "Sorry," he said, his hair seeming to droop with his mood like a puppy's ears, "I didn't mean to scare you."

The moths fluttered antagonistically, but I managed to pull a smile. "It's alright. You just startled me. Ready to canoe like never before, partner?"

My words perked him up. "You bet," he grinned. "We're going to leave everyone behind in our waves!"

"It's not a race, Sora," Ventus reminded. "We're just canoeing around the lake."

"We're still gonna beat ya!"

"Bring it on," Axel whooped. "Your brother and I will drown you!"

Sora smirked. "I heard you and Roxas were paired up." He looked at the elder twin. "I'll pray for you."

"If anyone needs praying for, it's Riku and Vanitas," Roxas said. "They're going to need divine intervention to keep from killing each other."

"So long as he follows my orders, we'll be fine," Riku grumbled.

Vanitas begrudgingly joined our group, his arms crossed as he glanced at Sora grumpily. "Don't suppose you'd switch partners?"

"Not a chance!" Sora laughed.

Riku scowled, peering at Van from the corner of his eye. "I'm going to have to talk with Mr. Phil after about the 'randomness' of these pairings..."

"Don't be a spoil sport, Riku," Axel chided, grinning. "You're just jealous."

"And you just don't want me to talk the teacher into changing the partners," Riku retorted, looking pointedly at Roxas.

"That's not true," Axel said, putting his hand on his hip. "If the teams get changed up, I've got a chance of getting put with Kairi."

"Gee, thanks," Roxas muttered.

"Why do you want to be paired with Kairi?" Vanitas asked, narrowing his eyes.

"You kidding?" Axel pulled me into a suffocating hug. He almost engulfed me in his height. "She's adorable. Who wouldn't want to be partners with someone so cute?"

Before I could explain to Axel that he was crushing my lungs, something grabbed my wrist and yanked me from his grasp. When I blinked, I found myself at Sora's side. He stepped in front of me, his hand still clasped around mine. He looked up at Axel with a stone face and a glint in his eyes that I couldn't identify. His voice was eerily calm, like he forced himself to keep it even. "No one."

The group was left in silence, Axel in a stupor, as Sora led me away to get our gear.

Mr. Phil pointed us toward the lifejackets as he thrust oars into our arms and we went obediently. I couldn't bring myself to ask Sora about what just happened. I'd never seen him so serious... or so dangerous. I wondered if he had something against Axel, but they had been talking normally earlier. I tried to forget about it. Whatever it was, it was Sora's business. I had no right sticking my nose where it didn't belong.

Sora still seemed out of sorts until the class was ready to head down to the lake. He had taken the oars earlier so that I only had to carry the lifejackets. We fell to the back of the group as we walked out the school's backdoor and along the path through the woods. From ahead I could see Ventus and Xion getting along well and Axel's mane of hair further up. Riku and Vanitas were attracting a fair amount of attention as they argued rather animatedly. Sora laughed at them.

"You can just feel the love coming off those two," he chuckled.

My shoulders relaxed as Sora returned to normal, the lingering tension blowing away with the afternoon breeze. I let a smile settle on my lips as I regarded the boys remorsefully. "You'd think they'd let bygones be bygones and make up already. Weren't they friends?"

"Yeah," Sora said regretfully. "But they both have a lot of pride and anger. It'll be hard to rebuild such an obliterated bridge."

"I suppose," I sighed. "It's a shame though. They're so alike."

Sora nodded. "They're both good at sports, they both have unnatural eye colours, they're the same age..."

"They both are popular. And they can both hold grudges. That's a big one! Riku has never forgiven Joshua for hitting on me that one time, and from what I can tell of Van, he isn't the type to let things go easily either."

"You don't know the half of it. I think he still intends to get back at Wakka for hitting him on the head with a blitzball five years ago."

"That's partially Wakka's fault though," I pointed out. "He's always goofing off with that ball of his. He's even hit me a few times."

"But of course you're gracious enough to let it slide?"

"Naturally."

"If only Riku and Van could follow in your footsteps. It'd be nice if they could be friends again."

"I know. I mean, the past is in the past. It's a shame that they can't just kiss and make up..." Suddenly I got an idea, and my face lit up with a dark conniving glint. I smirked at Sora. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That we'd be mentally scarred if Riku and Van kissed?"

"No... well, yes, actually. But I was thinking that we should get Vanitas and Riku back together."

"I had no idea they were going out."

I gave him a little shove. "Be serious, Sora! Think about it; if we somehow got Riku and Vanitas to forgive and forget, they'd be friends again, and there wouldn't be any more drama between them."

"What are you guys talking about?" Ventus asked. He and Xion had dropped back a little so they were walking in front of us. Xion and Ven greeted us with smiles and curious glances over their shoulders, their arms laden with oars and lifejackets. Like Sora, Ventus had been as courteous and had given Xion the lighter load to carry. I guessed Cloud had taught them chivalry growing up.

"Kairi wants to get the Demon Duo to reconcile."

"What?" Xion asked sarcastically, gesturing to the bickering boys ahead. "You don't enjoy this?"

I shrugged. "As much as I love seeing my best friend-"

"Ahem!" Xion coughed indiscreetly.

"One of my best friends," I corrected, "fighting with one of my mom's friend's sons-"

"Is that all we are?" Sora asked Ventus jokingly. The twin offered nothing but a smile in return.

I ignored them. "—I'd rather see the two of them getting along. I mean, can you imagine how close they'd be as friends?"

"We don't have to imagine, Kairi," Ventus said. "They were friends before."

"Yeah, yeah, and then Vanitas sabotaged Riku's football tryout, I know." I said. "Sora told me."

Ventus looked at his brother intriguingly. "...Did he?"

I didn't pay much attention to the exchange. "Yes. Their friendship was broken along with their trust and they've essentially been enemies ever since, right? Well I think it's awful that such close friends drifted apart."

"It wasn't so much as a drift as it was a volley of stabs leading to an eventual collapse," Sora said pointedly.

I waved him off. "Whatever. Regardless, they're better friends than foes, right? We should find some way to repair their relationship."

"I didn't know they had been together," Xion snickered.

Sora beamed. "I know, right?" Shifting the oars, he raised his hand for a high-five to which Xion slapped enthusiastically.

Had his arms not been full, Ventus would have crossed them as he contemplated. "It's not a bad idea, but don't you think it's better not to meddle? I mean, Riku and Van aren't going to like it too much if they find out what you're up to. The last thing those two want is for their friends and family to play matchmaker."

"We'll make sure they don't find out," I said confidently. "It'll be easy. We just need to be subtle. They won't be the wiser!"

"If you say so," Ventus sighed. "Just be careful. You don't want to face the wrath of the two of them combined."

"Well, either way," Sora said, "all our scheming will have to wait. We're here!"

Sure enough, we had arrived at the lake. While everyone thought it was kind of weird to canoe and swim at a lake when we lived on an island surrounded by clean, fresh salt water, I happened to love it. Mom used to take me down to the waterside when I was little. Riku and the Leonharts would come along sometimes for picnics and play dates, and I even have a couple vague memories of Dad teaching me how to swim in the freshwater. Don't get me wrong. I'm an islander, we all love the sea. But the lake held such fond memories for me; it had a special place in my heart.

I took a deep breath in as I let the scenery soak in. Ringed by breadfruit and kapok trees, palms and one majestic weeping willow, the water spread for half a mile or so. It came from a stream that led out from an underground spring. The lake let out to the ocean so the water wasn't stagnant and algae couldn't grow. The depth varied, the shallowest of it being two feet along the far bank, and the deepest being well over my head anywhere past five feet in. Riku once told me his dad said it was fifty feet and when I didn't believe him, we got into a fight. Mom ended breaking us up, and told us no one knew how deep the lake really got. It could be fifty, it could be fifteen. Either way, we weren't allowed to swim there alone until we were older. To this day, I've never been able to touch the bottom past ten feet of the bank. Neither has Riku. It kinda made me wonder why the schoolboard was letting us canoe here. I supposed all of us could swim, so there wasn't that much danger. I wasn't complaining regardless.

My eyes were lost in the sun flecks that rippled and reflected off the water and a smile stretched across my lips. "It's been a while."

"Yeah," Sora said. He looked wistful as he stared at the landscape.

"Did you use to come here too?" I asked.

"Huh?" He turned suddenly and gawked at me in a confused daze. Our eyes connected and he seemingly remembered where he was, his expression softening. "Uh, yeah. Me and the guys came here a lot growing up. It's been a while since we last came. Were you a frequent visitor as well?"

I nodded. "Yup! This was my favorite place to come. I'd beg my mom to take me so I could swim."

"You couldn't go alone?"

"No. Mom always said it was too dangerous to go by myself. She'd bring a blanket and read in the shade. When she was too busy, I'd get Riku to come with me. Though..."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "'Though...'?"

I leaned in and lowered my voice like a kid sharing a secret. "One time, when Mom was at an audition and Riku was on vacation with his parents, I snuck out and went by myself. It was daytime, and there were a few people around so it wasn't that dodgy. It was the best time of my life. I could swim to my heart's desire with no time limit or mother to tell me not to drop into the water from the trees. I got home with plenty of time before Mom got home and I wasn't hurt or kidnapped, so she never knew."

Sora's face became suddenly stoic. "You're lucky nothing happened."

I frowned a little. "I guess. But everything worked out so it's fine."

He smiled weakly. "I suppose you're right."

"Gather around, students!" Mr. Phil's voice blared through the garbled megaphone by the lakefront. "Come on, we don't have all day!"

Sora slung the oars over his shoulder like they were a bat. He smiled cheekily at me, back to the normal, carefree brunette with unruly hair. "We better go. The sooner we listen to Sir Philoctetes, the sooner we can get our canoe on!"

I grinned, choosing not to dwell on Sora's strange behavior. "After you."

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