Riku, splashing about and acting the fool, caught a sizeable fish- with his bare hands- for Meshuga's entertainment, and both of their lunches. He then grilled it over an open fire like he had done so many times before.
"Mmrh, this is great!" Meshuga complemented as she munched on some of the perfectly-done fish.
"I've had a lot of practise." Riku admitted, flicking up a morsel and catching it in his mouth, making Meshuga giggle.
"You're so crazy."
"Yeah." They ate the rest of the fish in comfortable silence, and finally Meshuga thought of something to do.
"Hey Riku, let's go play in the water." He cocked an eyebrow at her, but gave a small smile nonetheless. Meshuga stripped off her shorts, running to the water's edge. "Come on!" she urged, diving into the ocean. Riku grinned and shrugged his shirt off, leaving only his board shorts. He followed suit, slicing into the waves with practised ease. "Hey, catch me if you can!" Meshuga challenged, striking out through the water, swimming parallel with the shoreline.
"Hah, escape me if you can!" was Riku's reply, as he swam after her. Meshuga squealed with delight and swam faster, curving with the island; soon they were on the opposite side to that which they had started on. All the others were over this side, coincidentally playing in the water as well. Meshuga swam to a shallow point, standing up to her shoulders in the saltwater.
"Hey!" she called out, waving to the others; they waved back, but soon began pointing to something over Meshuga's shoulder.
"BEHIND YOU! LOOK OUT! MESHUGA!" Sora cried, his eyes wide. Meshuga wondered what he was going on about, until quite suddenly cold hands collided with her shoulders at a great speed, and whatever it was tackled her into the water. Meshuga let out a surprised stream of bubbles, scrambling for higher ground. She got to the really shallow parts- halfway up your shins- and the thing threw itself at her again. Meshuga fell on her back this time, to find herself pinned by the shoulders by a panting, and quite wet and bedraggled Riku.
"I caught you." He smirked, rolling off her and standing up. She levered herself to her feet. "So, what were you guys doing?" Riku asked, spotting Selphie on Tidus' shoulders. Wakka and the new girl, Yuna, were in the same position.
"Water wrestling," Sora declared, lifting Kairi onto his own shoulders. Riku glanced at Meshuga, who nodded with a large grin. She sprang onto Riku's shoulders, and he walked over to stand next to Yuna and Wakka, facing the other two pairs. Up on the beach, someone was heard to snigger,
"Heheh, Wakka's brave, that's the methane goddess!" Everybody looked, but again there was nobody there. None of the readers understood the inside joke. Yuna shrugged, and took a deep breath.
"CHAAAAAAARGE!" she bellowed, pointing in the direction Wakka and Riku needed to run. Sora and Tidus dug their heels in. The other two ran. Riku headed straight for Sora the girls on top locking hands in the desperate struggle to throw the other one off. Wakka and Tidus were doing much the same thing, and everyone was laughing.
Meshuga and Kairi were wrestling gleefully, trying to get a good grip on one another. Meshuga grinned and grabbed her opponent's arm, pushing her backwards. Sora compensated hurriedly, but Riku leapt forwards and Meshuga pulled Kairi off to the side. She began falling, Sora unable to stop it- but, with a lucky swing, she caught Meshuga's wrist, pulling all four to the shallows with a mighty splash. They all looked over to the other four, to find Wakka and Yuna in the water, Tidus and Selphie- still mounted- doing a little victory dance.
"Boys versus girls!" Kairi announced, to the approval of the others. Selphie switched mounts to Meshuga, and Yuna supported Sora's previous passenger. Sora and Riku paired up, Riku underneath, and Wakka sat on Tidus' shoulders.
"GO! GO! GO!" Wakka roared, and the fight was on again. Meshuga ran at Tidus, Selphie gleefully locking hands with his rider. While Tidus was concentrating on the action above, Meshuga took the chance to swipe his feet out from under him with a well-placed heel.
"Yeah baby!" Meshuga gloated, pumping a fist in the air as Selphie did much the same. In the background, Sora and Riku had defeated their opponents. The last two pairs squared off, grinning widely at each other.
"Haha, meet your DOOM!" Sora declared, as Riku charged. Sora and Selphie locked hands, growling and shoving in attempts to dislodge the other. Meshuga tried her heel trick again, but Riku dodged- with just enough force to pull Selphe, who had latched onto her opponent, off Meshuga's shoulders. Selphie fell into the water and Sora jumped down from Riku's shoulders, doing a little two-step with glee. "Do we make a team, or what!" he exclaimed, high-fiving Riku.
For the rest of the afternoon, they all played in the water.
* * *
"It's so pretty," Commented Meshuga; She and Riku had split off from the other guys near dusk and lay around near the Paopu tree until they were dry, and now they were watching the sun set. Riku turned to study her face in the half-light. She was the classic beauty, and frankly he was hooked. He craved her presence. He could feel his heart fluttering as she turned to look at him. "Riku?" she hazarded, absently leaning closer.
"Mmm?" he replied, doing the same.
"I don't ever want to leave here. I don't care if my memory comes back or not. I want to stay here with you." Riku beamed, wrapping his arms around her.
"I'd love that. And if you left… I don't know what I'd do." He closed the final distance, giving her a gentle kiss. Meshuga reacted accordingly, and the next two were as gentle as the first. Then they changed, becoming more urgent and passionate. The whole world seemed to disappear, leaving them alone, intertwined in the twilight.
The romantic scene was nicely augmented by the sound of someone gagging and retching, but nobody paid the culprit any notice. A few readers echoed their comrade's sentiment.