"I'll always be with you, I promise. I'll come back to you." As he and I were drifting away from each other, I heard the truth ring in his last words to me. Of course he will come back to me.

"I know you will!" I reply as I watch my closest friend go further and further away from me. Where he is going, where I am going, I'm not sure of, but I know that he will come back to me. Why am I so sure? Let me go back in time for a moment.

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It was a warm summer's night. Sora, Riku, and I, Kairi, had been working on our raft all day. We were building one so we could see other worlds, and have new adventures. We loved Destiny Islands, of course! But, we've always wanted to know what else is out there, besides our sheltered island we call home.

Sora and I were sitting on the dock, admiring the beautiful sunset. Destiny Islands' sunsets never failed to take anyone's breath away. The cool tropical breeze was playing with my reddish-brown hair as I set next to Sora. I love sitting next to him. I feel so calm, so relaxed, like there are no troubles in the world. We were going to officially launch our raft the next day, and I was having second doubts.

"Let's run away together, just the two of us!" I asked Sora. I liked Riku, don't get me wrong. It's just, Sora and I have a more special bond. I feel so happy when I'm around him, something Riku can't do.

"What?" A mixed look of confusion and agreement was on Sora's face. Sensing what I said must have been stupid, I quickly "changed my mind."

"Ha ha, just kidding!" I'm sure my face turned deep red. Of course I wasn't kidding!

"What's gotten into you lately?" Was Sora noticing that I was acting differently towards him? Part of me wanted him to notice, part of me didn't. Moments went by as we admired the sunset in silence.

"Hey Kairi." Sora looked a little nervous.

"Yes?" ASK ME IF I WANT TO SHARE A PAOPU! ASK ME IF I WANT TO SHARE A PAOPU!

"I was wondering... umm." Sora was stalling.

"What Sora?"

"Well, since I think you really like me, and I really like you, REALLY like you, do you want to share a paopu?" His face turned beet red as he blurted out the question. It took me a while to realize what he was saying. "Unless of course you don't want to."

"Of course I do, silly!" I was so excited! We were going to share a paopu! YES! YES!

"Ok!" Sora grinned from ear to ear. I love his smile, it makes me so happy. Sora slowly reached for my hand, and I accepted his. We walked hand in hand over to the paopu tree. Sora scurried up the tree, but took his time examining the star-shaped fruit, looking for the juiciest, ripest one on the tree. After a few seconds, I heard an "Ah-HA!" and Sora quickly came down the tree. He took out a pocket knife, and equally divided it in half.

I had never eaten a paopu before. From what I had heard from kids who had eaten them by themselves, not sharing it, it tasted bittersweet, sour, almost rotten. Would my paopu experience be bittersweet and rotten? I hoped not. This was the person I wanted my destiny intertwined with. This was my soul mate.

He gave me a half, with paopu juice running down his hand. "Ok, on the count of three, we'll eat it at the same time!" I nodded my head, which was spinning at nine million miles a second.

"One, two, three!"

I took a bite out of the paopu. All thoughts of it being bittersweet and sour had left my mind. It was the sweetest thing I had ever tasted, sweeter than the purest sugar. I looked up at Sora, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing. I quickly finished mine, then wiped my face with my hand. I wish I could have eaten all the paopus on the tree. True love tastes so sweet.

"That was good," Sora said softly. I nodded. What were we supposed to do now? It was so awkward.

"Umm... wanna head back to the pier and watch the rest of the sun set?"

"Sure!" I grinned and giggled. Today was the summer solstice, longest day of the year, which meant longest sunset of the year. Perfect.

We walked hand in hand back to the pier. The sunset was so perfect, the perfect thing to end the perfect day. As the sun disappeared, and the moon rose, I noticed it was beginning to get late.

"I better head back home." I was thinking that, but I really didn't want to.

"Ya, I better do that too," Sora's voice had a hint of sorrow. He looked over at my face. "Oh, Kairi, you have something on your face." He reached over to brush it off, and I leaned my head in for him to get it off.

What happened next, I can't explain. Maybe I slipped, maybe it happened on purpose. I don't know, it happened so fast. He kissed me! HE ACTUALLY KISSED ME! Of course, I kissed him back! I could taste paopu as I kissed his soft lips. The best taste ever. All kisses should taste like mine did. After what had seemed like centuries, I brought myself to stop.

"I. I better go home," I didn't want this moment to go away!

"Ya, me too. My mom will start to worry." I could see sorrow in Sora's eyes as well. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek, held my hand, and took me home.

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I'm not worried that he won't come back. I know he will. And I have the leaf of the paopu we shared to prove it.