The bustle of the Destiny Island market was slowly getting into full swing as the bright Island sun rose high in the clear sky. The main market streets were laid out about the same no matter which Island you went to. The buildings of the market were set up in a big square. Most were little shops with living quarters upstairs for the owners. In the market square itself were rows upon rows of vendor stands covered with brightly colored tarps. Just about everything imaginable could be found at the market square. There were restaurants and cafes. There were stands and stores for jewelry, clothing and accessories. Many stands had flowers and potted plants and there were fruit and vegetable stands everywhere. The ice cream parlor was no question the busiest on any day that wasn't wet and rainy. Even then they offered warm drinks to shake off the rainy chill. The candy shoppe was always a favorite of the local children.

Among the growing hubbub, two young men examined the wares of the market stalls as they talked. It was one of the few times Riku and Bryan had to hang out and connect as friends without worrying about training or having somewhere to be in a hurry. It truly was overdue for the two of them to have some quality male bonding time. They liked each other well enough but still didn't know a lot about one another. Also Riku wanted to get Rachel a gift and needed Bryan's help. So while there was an ulterior motive in play, Bryan still accepted the invitation for Riku to show him around one of the hot spots of his island home. But it was still good for them to get to know each other better without the distractions of training or calamity among the worlds. And the two of them would need to have a solid relationship regardless of any direction the relationship between Rachel and Riku took.

"So this is where you grew up." Bryan stated, looking around at the colorful market stalls and the quaint wood and stone buildings. "Radiant Garden has a market like this, but only runs two days a week."

"This goes on all the time. As a kid I wished it would only be once a week. That way there'd be something to look forward to. So much of island life was too quiet and predictable for me for a long time."

"Back home was kinda the same story. Big city. Big castle and still not enough to keep a kid occupied. That's how Rachel and I found No Shortcuts. We got bored."

Every other stall, somebody, friend, neighbor or elder made sure to say hello to Riku. If there was one thing that could be guaranteed for a close community, it was that everyone knew everyone. That was party why, when introduced, they had to say Bryan was a new friend visiting from a neighboring island.

"Girls like jewelry, right?"

"I guess. But I don't think you could top that Paopu necklace you got her for Christmas."

"Does she wear rings?"

"Don't be getting any ideas yet."

"What? I wasn't."

Riku had been studying the wares of the market with new eyes. The handmade items and the finely created crafts he would never have looked at twice now had his full attention. He carefully took mental notes of all he could remember Rachel saying, even in passing the things she liked as well as everything they came across in the market Bryan gave the OK to. Of course there was a hang-up to the arrangement. Bryan wasn't as helpful as Riku hoped he'd be.

As siblings, naturally they knew a lot about each other. But, there were of course some things Rachel never felt the need to tell her brother, both because he maybe didn't need to know or she knew he wouldn't care. Bryan was the same way. For example, Bryan knew that while his sister preferred to wear clothes along the violet spectrum, her favorite colors were actually royal blue and dark green. Also she hated orange. He had seen her wear both silver and gold jewelry, but she wore so little of it he never bothered to ask or notice if she preferred one or the other. She was a serious animal lover. Both of them knew that but she had so much knowledge to share about the animal kingdom, they weren't even sure if she knew what her favorites were. Bryan knew she liked flowers and knew a bit about gardening. But since he could only appreciate the beauty of a garden but had no interest in botany at all, he knew very few plants and flowers by name. Least of all the ones she might favor.

This caused a particular challenge when they stopped at Widow Chamberlin's flower stand. Mrs. Chamberlin, or Aunt ChayChay as she insisted the local kids call her, was an older woman who singlehandedly ran the most successful flower shop on the island. If asked, no one who knew her could ever recall a time where she didn't have dirt under her fingernails and she always smelled of flowers and freshly-turned soil. Even all grown up, Riku still referred to her as Aunt Chay. Lifelong habits are hard to break. And she was more than happy to see him again.

"Riku!" She said, standing up from her stool. "How you doin' kid?" Chamberlin held him tight in a motherly hug then stood back to get a better look at him. Riku took note of the dried leaf that was stuck in her graying red hair. "Just like a bean sprout. I always knew you were going to be tall." Then she realized he wasn't alone. "Oh? Who's this? I've never seen you before and I know everyone."

"This is Bryan. He's visiting from a neighboring island. Bryan, this is Mrs. Chamb-Ow!" With surprisingly quick reflexes for an older lady she gave Riku a sharp thwack on the side of his head. "What was that for!"

"Where's the sense you were born with boy!"

"Sorry Aunt Chay."

"That's better."

Bryan looked at Riku with great amusement that he'd just been slapped by an old lady.

"Shut up!"

"I didn't say anything."

"Then don't look at me with that tone of voice!"

"So are you boys just looking today?" Mrs. Chamberlin chuckled.

"No, I just haven't decided what to get yet."

"What's the occasion? Maybe I can help."

"He's getting a gift for his…girlfriend." It was still a hard word for Bryan to choke out but he was getting over it.

Aunt ChayChay positively glowed. "Is that true?"

"Yes."

"Oh, sweetheart that's wonderful!" She stood up and hugged him again. And of course she wasn't going to rest until she got every detail. "Rachel, eh? Little lamb. Perhaps a white rose for purity or innocence. Or," She took a single red and white island rose from a vase. "A red and white rose given together symbolize 'unity'."

Riku was sold on the idea but Bryan shot it down.

"Na-uh. Nice symbolism and all but Rachel would rather something she can take care of."

"She has good taste. But how do you know that?"

"She's my sister. I'm here as Riku's gift advisor and parole officer."

"I like you."

"Thanks."

"Plant or flower?"

"Flower, I think." Riku said.

"Fragrance?"

"A little."

Aunt Chay muttered to herself as she looked over her shelves for what might fit the bill the best.

"Guess there's no sense asking you if it's too strong." Riku laughed.

"I don't know." Bryan answered. "I actually thing I might be able to smell something. But the only thing I know I can smell is Darkness. I think some of these flowers might be evil."

Aunt Chay turned around just in time to ask Riku what he was trying not to laugh at but he wasn't about to repeat it.

"This is what you need." She said, handing him a small pot. "Subtly sweet and they're masters at reseeding themselves.

The two boys looked at the tiny plant she'd given him. The diminutive pot fit in his palm and the plant itself had only three shoots. They could see where all the blossoms would be but it was going to be a few days at least before they opened.

"Got anything that's ready to open now?"

"Are you questioning me?"

"No."

"Good. This is what you need."

Everyone knew of Aunt ChayChay's self-proclaimed gift of guessing what people needed. No one could really argue with it because she had yet to be wrong.

Bryan gave Riku a sharp tap on his upper arm to get his attention. "Put it in one of those." He pointed to a stall diagonal from them that sold ceramic mugs, plates and bowls.

A minute later Riku came back with a blue mug with a crackle over-glaze and Aunt Chay transplanted the wee flower into its new pot.

"Now you don't be a stranger, you hear? And I will be meeting this girl!"

"Yes, Aunt Chay."

She hugged him one more time and they left.

After they finished browsing the market stalls, the boys went in a big loop around the various shops. Bryan saw a small music store and wanted to look inside. Riku barely took five steps in before going tense and turning around again.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Cyndel Conway is giving music lessons in the back."

"Wha-?"

Bryan looked to the back of the shop. Only then did he hear the whistles and shrieks of the clarinet. A mosquito-like netting served as a curtain to a small back room. A girl about their age with strawberry-blonde curls was giving a young boy lessons. If her smile was anything to go by, that shrieking was a sign of improvement.

"You scared of a girl?"

"No, I'm scared of an obsessive weirdo."

"So that's why you're freaking out?"

"I'm not freaking out."

"You kinda are."

"Self-preservation is not freaking out. If you're not getting anything let's go."

"RIKU! How yeh been kid!"

Bryan couldn't help but smile at Riku's cringe. If that Cyndel girl didn't know he was there, she would now that the shop owner called to him.

"I'm fine, Wallace." Riku said with the same enthusiasm of a man resigned to his fate by firing squad.

Wallace was a thin gentleman with bright eyes, receding hairline and impressive handlebar mustache. He spoke louder that people normally do, implying his years working with instruments left him a little deaf. The rosy patches on his cheekbones suggested many years of pressure from playing the brasses trained blood vessels to just remain open. "Haven't seen hide nor hair of ya since you came in for those drumsticks. I di'n't even know you played."

"I don't." Riku replied at a similar volume. "They were a Christmas present for a friend.

It was obvious Riku was desperate to get out of there. He introduced Bryan, who made sure to get another set of drumsticks. He told Riku later he actually hadn't been able to use the ones he'd given him for a while. Bryan had been playing with a bit too much gusto one night and snapped one clean in half and splintered the other. Suppose it served him right for not being too careful. Still, it wasn't an uncommon thing for a drummer to leave a long trail of broken drumsticks in his wake. What upset him though was he really liked the sound that particular kind of wood made but had no idea where Riku had gotten it from.

Then Bryan got a look at why Riku wanted to get going. That Cyndel girl hadn't abandoned her lesson to say hello but she had seen them. And that starry-eyed gaze she was giving Riku was a little creepy. It might have been the same look Juliet cast upon Romeo as she heard him call her name and declare his undying love from her balcony.

"Old girlfriend?" Bryan asked, quickly looking through the small assortment of symbols.

"She wishes. She's been giving me those doe-eyed stares since the fourth grade. I've never given her any indication I'm interested. And now it's known that Kairi and Sora are together, she seems to think finally getting me will be fish-in-a-barrel easy now that my mind is not 'distracted' by Kairi."

"Why don't you just say something to her?"

"I have. Many times. She's taken every rejection very well because I guess she thinks I just need a bit more time to mature or something, by then I'll have come to my senses and realize we were meant to be all along."

"Wait 'til she sees you with Rachel."

"That will be an interesting day."

"Hey! I got it!"

"Got what?"

"Full-proof way to get her off your back for good."

"Yeah?"

"Well, because if she sees you with Rachel, then she'll just see it as a competitor she just has to get out of the way, right? Problem isn't solved."

"Right."

"So we do this. Make sure she's watching as we leave. I'll tenderly brush your arm then you look at me, smile and hold my hand."

"Excuse me!"

Although his response implied he was opposed to the suggestion, Bryan could see Riku's gears turning, weighing that a moment of awkwardness may in fact hold a lasting solution. It was all Bryan could do not to laugh. Besides, one minute of weirdness would be a lot easier to stomach than the double date dare that lasted for hours. Comparatively, there was no contest.

"Bad idea. Close-knit community. I'll never be able to shut them up if they start talking."

Finally they left. A while later the browsing ended in front of the ice cream shoppe where they shared a table outside the store, thoroughly enjoying their frozen treats in portions typical for teenage boys. For the most part they ate in silence, just watching the bustle of the market. Neither of them had gotten very much but Riku did have a few ideas for what he could get Rachel in the future.

"Better head back to the Tower after this." Riku said.

"Yeah," Bryan agreed. "Worked out pretty well you choosing today to do this."

"Why? What's today?"

"Nothing. Though you were cutting it a bit close."

"For what?"

"Tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?"

"You don't know?"

"Guess not."

"Whoops."

"Why? What's happening tomorrow?

"Tomorrow is Rachel's birthday."