Author's Ranting: Next Chapter already! I felt like writing ^^

Ok, this chapter is going to be hard...I mean...read it. You'll see. Um, and...please don't hate me!

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Sora was on his way back to his house as he furiously wiped at his tear-streaked face. Riku was so dumb! Riku was the dumbest person ever! Sora sobbed angrily and shook his head.

How could he even think about asking this question? And he thought Riku trusted him. But seemingly his silver haired boyfriend didn't even feel loved. What more would Sora have to do to make him see that he was the only one he loved? Sora was frustrated and angry with Riku. How could he cause so much trouble?

It seemed to be perfect that Kairi had come back, Sora thought. Maybe he could talk to her about his problems, and maybe she could help him. She had always been caring and nice, well, except for the time she went mad, but she seemed totally normal now.

Sora took a deep breath and straightened himself, brushing the tears away. He finally reached his house where he stopped in front of his door. He had told Kairi that he would get her some clothes, which of course he hadn't. He shrugged. The best thing was to tell her the truth. He was sure that Kairi would understand. He was sure that Kairi would be able to help him through.

Taking another deep breath, Sora pushed the door open, entering his house.

"Kairi? Kairi I'm back," he called, walking into his room to change clothes. His clothes had dried but he still felt uncomfortable in them since they were wrinkled now.

When he came to his room, he blinked in surprise.

"Kairi?" He scratched his head and blinked a few more times to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

The girl crossed her arms behind her head and smiled sweetly. "Oh, hello Sora. I hope you don't mind," she pointed at her clothes and shrugged with a sheepish grin.

Sora dumbly shook his head and blinked even more.

Kairi chuckled. "I figured you wouldn't be back in time, so I just borrowed some of your clothes," she said, walking over to pat his arm.

"You all right?" she asked as she saw that Sora was just blinking and staring into nothingness.

The brunet shook his head and slowly snapped out of it, turning his head to see Kairi. Her hairdo was weird, he thought. She looked like a crow had tried to build a nest in her hair.

"What happened to your hair?" he stammered in confusion.

Kairi giggled and shrugged again, cocking her head.

"Don't like it? I thought I'd try something new."

Sora nodded slowly and eventually walked to his bed to sit down. As he felt himself sink into the mattress something inside him pulled at his heart. How many nights had he spent with Riku in this bed, cuddling, talking, or even sharing moments of passion. And now it seemed as though this all meant nothing to Riku, as though it wasn't enough for him.

Kairi noticed the sour look on Sora's face and frowned. She quickly made her way to his bed and sat down beside him, putting an arm around his shoulder.

"Hey, what's wrong? Where's my cheerful Sora?"

Sora winced and looked down, making his brown bangs cover his eyes. He didn't respond, but silently he mouthed "Riku". Kairi gently rubbed his arm, trying to comfort him.

"Is it about Riku? Do you have problems?" Her voice was so light and soft, it made Sora feel a little better. He slowly turned to her, catching her gaze. For the first time, he realized how radiant her eyes were. They were not quite like gemstones but more like something soft, something natural. Riku's eyes were a perfect mingling of colors, but Kairi's eyes were simple yet wonderfully sparkling.

He flinched as he realized what he was thinking. Was he comparing Kairi to Riku? Why should he do that?

"Kairi..." he murmured, looking down again. The girl smiled and hooked a finger under his chin to make him look at her.

"Come on...say...CHEEEEEESE!" She used Sora's trademark cheesy grin, surprising Sora immensely. He blinked in shock at the girl's antics but something in him told him to let it be. Kairi was successfully distracting him from his problems. Kairi was making him happy at the very moment.

After a few seconds, Sora chuckled and gave Kairi a hug while the girl hugged him back.

"See, now you feel better, don't you?" she whispered, patting his back.

Sora pulled away and nodded, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks, Kairi. You know...Riku's so different from you...he's so stubborn...and paranoid! Yeah, that's what he is! Totally paranoid and suspicious about everything. He can be so difficult to deal with and he doesn't even trust me! Me, his best friend! Me, his BOYfriend!" Sora began blurting out all of his thoughts simply as they came to his mind.

Kairi listened to him as Sora explained what had happened between them. She listened to Sora's stories about Riku being possessive, she listened as Sora told her about his everlasting distrust. And all the while she only nodded silently, taking in all the information like she was studying their relationship. She also seemed to be watching Sora's movements, the way he gestured with his hands as he talked and she even concentrated on his facial expressions.

When Sora was finally finished, he felt exhausted and let himself fall backwards onto his bed.

Kairi frowned for a while, then copied the action, lying beside Sora. Sora's mind was blank. For once, he felt relieved and his mind was free of worries.

Then, he turned to his side and looked at Kairi.

"What do you think?" he asked her with a hopeful expression.

Kairi blinked as though he had caught her off guard and scratched her head.

"Um, I think...I think..." she pouted slightly as she thought and Sora wrinkled his nose at her expression. Was he just imagining all this or was Kairi really kind of acting like him? He shrugged it off. He was probably just oversensitive now. Everything around him seemed to be something to worry about. He had to let it go.

"I think you two should take a break," Kairi finally answered, sitting up. Sora jerked and quickly sat up, too, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Really?"

Kairi drew her legs up and hugged them, resting her head on her knees.

"Sora, listen. You probably think I'm still trying to get you two apart, but it's not true. I'm really trying to help you." She turned to look Sora directly into his eyes.

"I'm not lying, Sora. You can tell by my eyes, can't you?"

Sora frowned and looked at Kairi, concentrating on her expression. She did seem honest. Her eyes seemed to sparkle with this natural beauty she possessed. Different from Riku, but still wonderful.

Sora nodded.

Kairi smiled slightly and went on. "I'm not saying that you should break up. No, you mustn't. But I think you should take a small break, you know, just avoid each other for a while to clear the things. Both of you have to work out some issues I guess, and maybe you can find a solution to you relationship problems."

She paused, unwrapping her arms around her legs to put again put an arm around Sora.

"If you don't want to tell him, I'll do it. I'll explain to him, even if he hates me. I hope he will understand, no, I'm sure he will understand. You two take a break, sort your feelings out, and then everything's all right again. What do you think, hm?" She smiled sweetly at Sora who had a somber expression on his face.

He hesitated before answering. He believed every word Kairi said, he was sure that she was really trying to help him. But was her idea really that good? Should they really take a break? What if they just drifted apart more and never came together anymore?

He wanted to tell all that to Kairi, but Kairi's loving smile made it impossible.

"Okay..." he murmured, looking down again.

He felt the girl pat his head before he saw her hopping off the bed.

"Okay, Sora. Oh, hey," she stopped in front of the door. "I guess you should come with me to talk to Riku. I don't think he would believe me if I said you wanted to take a break."

Sora nodded and followed Kairi, all the while facing the floor. He couldn't look up now, he felt like his head was too heavy to look up. The feeling of Kairi taking his hand, however, gave him some courage and he sighed.

"I guess I will just tell him straight out."

Kairi nodded and they went off to the beach. Sora suddenly stopped. The cave. If Riku was still there, he couldn't bring Kairi. This cave was just for the two of them. No one was allowed to enter it or to even know about it except for them. Sora sighed.

"I don't know where he is," he muttered, turning around.

As if on cue, Riku walked by, a few feet away from them with a nervously ranting Selphie clinging to his arm.

"You gotta help me! I mean, REALLY! I can't do it alone and if we're unlucky the whole island will--"

"Riku!" Sora called, cutting Selphie's endless ramblings off.

Kairi squeezed his hand and together, they walked towards the two other teens. Riku's expression was blank as he stood with Selphie clinging to his arm. He looked at Sora and Kairi holding hands and then looked away.

"What do you want?" he casually asked, not facing any of them.

Sora opened his mouth but felt a lump in his throat. He almost turned around, wanting to run away, but Kairi stopped him.

"Sora, you know why you're here," she whispered, squeezing his hand again. Sora clenched his teeth and shook his head.

"I can't..." he whispered back, trying not to look at Riku. It hurt so much just to see him now.

"Sora," Kairi urged, putting her around his shoulders. Riku flinched.

Sora finally nodded and turned back to Riku. He closed his eyes and opened them again, staring right into the other boy's eyes.

"Riku. I--I think we should..should take a break. I--I mean--" Kairi squeezed his hand yet again, nodding at him to give him courage.

"I mean, from now on, we're on a break!" Sora barked out, squeezing his eyes shut before he ran away, pulling Kairi with him. He ran as fast as he could, almost as if he was trying to flee from the response. He didn't want to see how Riku coped with it, he didn't even want to know what he felt about it.

It was too much.

"Sora, Sora! Calm down!" Kairi called as she was being pulled after him. Sora never slowed but simply continued to run farther and unconsciously ended up at the secret cave near the tiny waterfall. He stopped and rubbed at his eyes, then slowly went through the passage until they were in the cave. Kairi silently followed him and they eventually sat down.

Sora curled up into a ball and had his eyes closed while Kairi simply watched him in silence.

So far, so good, Kairi thought.

~~

"A BREAK?!" Selphie shrieked as she watched Sora disappear. Riku was silent while Selphie began to whine and wail about Sora's statement. It seemed as though Selphie was taking this a lot worse than Riku.

Riku chuckled, and Selphie stared wide eyed at him. Riku chuckled again, and eventually even began to laugh, covering his mouth with his hand. Selphie stared in confusion. Riku continued to laugh as if this all had been a joke.

"I should have known!" he cried out, laughing even more. Selphie could see a tear rolling down his cheek, and then she knew he wasn't laughing anymore but crying. Of course, he tried to cover it up as laughter, because Riku would never cry in front of anyone. Selphie's hyperness and worries about the burning house were gone immediately, and all her concentration was focused on Riku.

"Hey," she softly cooed, gently rubbing the arm she had been clinging to. "Riku, come on," she said, patting him slightly.

Riku stopped laughing and his expression was blank again. He stared into the distance as Selphie wrapped her arms around him, hugging him for comfort. They remained like this for a while and Riku's mind was full of broken fragments of images. The feeling Selphie's embrace caused, made him relax a little. But it wasn't the same as Sora hugging him. Nothing was the same when it wasn't Sora.

Riku eventually gave in and sank down to the ground, pulling Selphie with him. The girl continued to hug him and rubbed his back in a soothing motion. She did know how to stop being insane and comfort people. This almost made Riku chuckle. He had always known that Selphie was an unique girl.

"Selphie," he murmured, grateful for her care.

"Yes, Lord Fluffy Tail?" she replied, and Riku could hear the grin in her voice. He chuckled and pulled away, shaking his head. He sighed and stroked her cheek.

"Thanks," he said with a smile although his heart was still aching. It was a dull pain, something like coldness taking over him. The freezing feeling was hurting him, but it also made him feel numb and dull. His heart felt like it was turning into ice. He sighed again, tears threatening to escape his eyes again. He was near despair.

"Stop it!" Selphie demanded, and Riku looked at her. "Stop being hurt! You know that Sora and you are destined to be together! Don't forget the present I gave you, you know the photo album! This is the evidence! You can't just let him break up like this."

Riku shook his head. "He said we're on a break. We haven't broken up seriously...just...stopped seeing each other for a while....." he trailed off, knowing exactly that telling himself this wouldn't help. He knew that he had gone too far. Although he didn't know why, Sora felt offended and this time it was for real. He couldn't just make it up with a lame letter or anything else. He couldn't hope for Sora to come back to him.

"Maybe you two do need a break..." Selphie suddenly murmured, frowning thoughtfully. Riku nodded, inwardly breaking down at the thought of avoiding Sora or having the boy avoid him.

"You know what your problem is?" Selphie poked Riku's chest, pouting at him.

Riku shook his head, frowning. The brunette nodded and crossed her arms. "You're too tense! I think what drove Sora away from you was that you were constantly paranoid about others liking him! You can be obsessive as much as you want, just be sure to keep it to yourself!"

The girl got up and straightened herself while Riku blinked in confusion.

"You made Sora feel constricted and frustrated with your jealousy. Come on, I'll teach you some lessons about relationships!" She gave him a big smile, offering her hand.

After considering the words, Riku accepted the hand and let the girl pull him up, surprised by her strength. And again, he had to realize what an unique girl Selphie was. Tidus was sure lucky to have a girlfriend like her. Where were Tidus and Wakka anyway? Riku almost started another pointless train of thoughts but Selphie quickly shattered it.

"First lesson will be about how to react when you see your boyfriend kissing another girl...or boy!" She exclaimed almost happily and pulled Riku along to her house for her teachings.

Riku smiled at Selphie's energetic enthusiasm and shrugged. It couldn't hurt to take in some information. Maybe he would get Sora back after all. And this break wouldn't last too long....

~Tbc~

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Ending notes: So, Sora and Riku are on a break. You know of what this reminds me? Rachel and Ross from Friends lol! I didn't mean to make it like that but now that I wrote it... it kinda reminds me of them... ah anyway, I hope you like this chapter. I think it adds to the plot when they take a break...

If you're wondering about Kairi's house...it's still burning XD ...guess it will be a heap of ashes in the next chapter...

review plz and stay tuned as always for the next episode of the never ending soap opera! heh...