Here is Chapter 3. So, uh….enjoy! ^_^

Disclaimer: Wakka's voice in Kingdom Hearts sucks. Oh yeah, and I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They belong to Disney and Squaresoft. But you already knew that.

Once again, I apologize for any OOC-ness that might occur.

----------------------------------------------------

A small boulder, covered in foliage, blocked an entrance to a secret cave Sora had found the other day on the Mayor's Island.

"Wow," said Riku, "I can't believe that there was a cave we hadn't discovered yet on Destiny Islands. And I thought there wasn't a single place left here we haven't touched."

Sora cleared the foliage off the boulder.

"This huge rock is blocking the entrance. Help me give it a push."

Sora and Riku put their hands on the rock and leaned their weight into it. They're combined efforts proved successful. The boulder wasn't as heavy as it looked.

"All right!" Sora exclaimed. The duo proceeded to enter the cave. They had to watch their heads for the first few steps, but the ceiling began to rise until they were able to stand upright again. The duo looked around and saw...nothing. The cave really wasn't much. It actually had patches of grass growing sparsely throughout. A ray of sunlight shone through a large crack in the ceiling, allowing a patch of flowers to grow in a corner. A bunch of leaves were stashed in another corner as if it were a makeshift bed. But that was it. Not much else. The Secret Place was much more interesting.

"Wow, a cave that looks just like all the others. How awesome." Riku said sarcastically. Sora pouted.

"Darn. I was hoping there was a surprise left on this island. Guess not." He was severely disappointed. Anything that could be done in this cave could very easily be done in the Secret Place.

"Face it, Sora. We've seen everything on this island. I'm getting quickly reminded of why I wanted to leave in the first place." Riku said. He knelt down by the stack of leaves and rummaged through them, hoping to find something, anything of interest.

He found something.

He picked up a long, elastic tube-like thing and grimaced. He saw one of these things before.

"Sora, I don't think we're the first people to discover this cave."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, walking up to his silver-haired friend. "What is that?" Riku looked at him.

"I think it's a condom." He answered.

"A CONDOM?" Sora gasped, then covered his mouth. "Ew, I can't believe you touched it!"

"I'm wearing gloves." The silver-haired boy said, dropping it. He looked around the leaf patch. "And there's more. There's four here. Whoever comes here must come here a lot."

Sora giggled. "Interesting use of the word 'come'."

Riku shot him a look. "Don't be so immature." Sora smirked.

"Aww, then I can't tell you about my idea." Riku looked at him, curiously.

"What are you talking about?" he asked suspiciously. Sora had a mischievous grin on his face.

"This cave is in an isolated location. Whoever comes here, obviously comes here with someone. They probably think nobody knows about here, but themselves. Sooo..."

Riku knew where this was heading. "You wanna spy on them and see them..."

Sora nodded mischievously. "What do you say, Riku-kun?" Riku scratched his head.

"I dunno." he answered.

"Come on! Haven't you ever wondered what it looked like? We could actually see it!"

"Yeah, but then again, there is this thing called the Inter-"

"Great! I knew you'd agree!" Sora exclaimed. Riku sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

"Okay, then. You wanna meet back here around eight o'clock? I'd bet that would be the time they would come around. I don't think they'd visit here during the day or they'd already be here."

Sora giggled and nodded. "C'mon, let's head back home." He ran out the cave, the mischievous grin still plastered on his face. Riku scratched his head. Sora sure was weird sometimes.

-----------------

Tidus and Wakka were sparring, near the paopu tree. Wakka thought his best friend wanted to hang out with him, but Tidus just wanted to get his mind off his predicament and Wakka was merely the first person he came across. Truthfully, he wanted to see Riku.

Wakka jumped in the air and beamed his Blitzball at Tidus. The blonde boy held his kendo stick and smacked at the blitzball with hard force. The blitzball beamed back at Wakka, aiming squarely at the blitzball player's head. Wakka dodged the ball, but barely. A loud smack was heard as it hit a nearby rock wall. Wakka was surprised it didn't make a dent.

"Watch it, will ya?" Wakka said, angrily. "You could've killed me with that!"

Tidus calmed down. "Sorry, Wakka." He put his hand behind his head and laughed a little. "Maybe I'm just getting too good."

But Wakka could see right through him. He knew his best friend better than anyone else on the island.

"Something's troubling you, ya?" he said seriously. Tidus put down his hand, frowned and looked down.

"Yeah, something's wrong." he said icily.

"Jecht."

"Huh?"

"It's about your dad, Jecht. Isn't it?" Wakka concluded.

"How'd you know?" Tidus asked, a little annoyed by Wakka's knowing already.

"You always use that tone of voice when your dad ticks you off." Wakka said as he walked up to his friend. "What'd he do this time?"

"I don't really feel like talking about it." Tidus admitted. "I...actually kind of want to be alone right now."

Wakka understood.

"As you wish. But remember, you can always come to me, ya?"

Tidus nodded and forced a smile. "I know I can always count on you Wakka. Thanks."

Wakka walked up to the paopu tree and patted it's trunk.

"You can sit on this branch. Riku comes here to think all the time, so it must be a good thinking spot, ya?" Wakka turned around and patted Tidus' back. "And whatever that monster did to you. He's gonna regret it." He jumped off the small mini-island and swam to the piers. Now Tidus regretted not telling Wakka. He was a true friend.

Tidus sat on the paopu tree, staring into the water, thoughts racing through his head. He had no idea what to do next. The plan backfired. How could it have backfired? He surely wouldn't like someone who called him up just to insult him. Shouldn't the same go for everyone?

He laid down on the branch and put his hands over his face. The man must've been weird, he thought.

He wondered if he should go home. He didn't want to. He didn't want to show up at that place again for a long time. Would Wakka let him stay over? Maybe for a night, but not forever.

What about Riku?

Riku...

Tidus' thoughts drifted towards Riku. He always looked up to Riku. He was kind of like a big brother to him, even more so than Wakka. The redheaded blitzball player was his best friend, but Riku had more of a mentor status. Whenever Jecht did something to make him cry and his mother or Wakka weren't available, he would run to Riku. Riku would actually drop whatever he was doing with Sora and Kairi to try and cheer him up. He didn't know why. They were close, but not "best friend" close. Riku was closer with Sora and Kairi and Tidus was closer with Wakka so what was the special connection he had with Riku? The silver-haired boy was the strongest fighter on Destiny Islands, so he definitely admired his strength. Riku almost never got sick so he admired his health. He was always thinking and philosophizing so he admired his intelligence. He was always popular with the girls so he admired his good looks.

He admired him. He envied him. At times, he even wanted to be him. But Riku told him that Tidus was special in his own right and should be glad to be who he is. Tidus blushed at the memory of Riku calling him "special." Riku, the closest person Destiny Islands had to a "man-god." His flowing, silver hair, his muscular arms, his turquoise eyes that was hard NOT to get entranced in...

Tidus shot up from the paopu tree branch.

"What am I thinking?!" he cried.

"That's what I'd like to know." said a voice from behind.

Tidus' head whipped around so fast, it could of snapped off.

"RIKU!"

The silver-haired boy was standing right beside him, looking at him innocently.

"I'm sorry. You looked so deep in thought, I thought I shouldn't disturb you."

Tidus blushed. He hoped it was out of embarrassment.

He looked away and stared out into the ocean.

"What are you doing here?" asked the blonde.

"I'm supposed to meet Sora here. We've got plans." Riku explained.

"Oh." said Tidus softly. Riku took a seat next to him.

"Sooooo," he said, "How did it go? Are you out of it?"

Tidus shook his head.

"If anything, I'm deeper in it than I was before."

Riku was puzzled. How did it not work? So Tidus gave him the details and how things turned in Jecht's favor. As always.

"What am I going to do?" asked Tidus, his voice nearly breaking.

"Buck up, Tidus. You are NOT going through with this! We'll think of something, something guaranteed to work!" Riku said, angry now. He brushed his hands through his silver hair, thinking hard. His turquoise eyes, burning with determination. Tidus liked the way Riku looked when he thought like that. It was kind of…

Tidus immediately took his eyes off Riku and looked back into the water. Once again, Riku was taking time out of his day to help him. Tidus made sure to take note of that.

"Got it!" yelled Riku. Tidus looked at him, hopeful.

"What?"

"Okay, so the guy has a high tolerance for attitude, but if there's one characteristic fathers want in their daughter's husband, it's responsibility. You need to do something irresponsible, then there will be no way he'll have you marry his daughter." Riku smiled proudly.

"Like what?" asked Tidus. Riku's smile disappeared as he shrugged. But his eyes narrowed, looking serious.

"Whatever it is, it has to be very stupid and disgraceful. Something that would definitely keep you from marrying the girl ever. Something that would repulse even Jecht." Riku put a hand on Tidus' shoulder. "I don't think you have to worry about lowering Jecht's opinion of you. It probably couldn't get any lower." Tidus nodded. That much was true. "But you probably want to keep from doing something too outrageous. Don't do anything that would get you in trouble with all of Destiny Islands. I could give you something specific to do like--"

"Hey, Riku!" Sora called from the bridge to the paopu tree mini-island.

He walked over to the pair sitting on the tree.

"Hi Tidus. I haven't seen you since your dad called you earlier today. What was that about?"

"Oh, uh, um..." Tidus began, but Riku put a hand to his mouth.

"Jecht just wanted him to do a bunch of chores for him without an allowance again." Riku lied. Sora looked sympathetic and sighed.

Tidus gave Riku a look of confusion.

Riku whispered into his ear, "I don't want him burdening you with questions right now." A small blush appeared across Tidus' cheeks. Riku was looking out for him. Sora took notice.

"Hey, is he coming along?" he asked. Riku shook his head.

"Nah, he's got work to do. Right, Tidus?" Riku gave the blonde boy an assuring wink.

"Um, right." Tidus said, receiving the message. Riku leaned into him again and whispered in his ear, "Remember, the path you choose to walk is your own choice. Nobody has the right to force you to choose an unwanted path." Riku pat his friend on the back and jumped down the tree.

"Shall we get going?" he asked his best friend. Sora nodded. Tidus jumped down from the tree and made his way across the bridge. He silently wished Riku could've come with him.

"Take care and good luck." Riku said looking at the blonde boy, but unsure if he had heard him.

-----------------

"Well here we are!" Sora said excitedly. He and Riku had finally entered their little secret cave. "I sure hope we didn't miss anything."

"You're an animal, Sora." Riku laughed. "But have you figured out what we'll do if we get caught?"

"I'll take care of it when the time comes." Sora said, reassuringly. "We'll just hide behind that big rock for now. We'll be able to see them, but they won't be able to see us."

"If you say so."

The duo sat behind the big rock and waited patiently. They didn't know how long it would take, but Sora convinced Riku that they would wait all night if they had to. Riku wasn't as into this as the horny brunette, but he had to admit he was curious.

They probably waited a good half-hour before they finally heard the rock blocking the cave entrance being moved. Sora and Riku braced themselves.

"This is it!" Sora said excitedly. "I've been waiting forever for this. I could pee in my pants!"

"You'll be doing something in your pants all right." Riku chuckled. Sora blinked.

"Huh? What?"

"Nevermind." Riku said, rolling his eyes.

"I don't get it."

They heard footsteps coming into the room. In walked a familiar, brown-haired girl. Sora and Riku gasped.

"Selphie?!" Sora exclaimed in a soft voice, so as not to be heard.

"I wouldn't have expected it to be her." Riku said scratching his head. "I always thought she would wait for marriage."

"Shh!" Sora put a finger to his mouth. "Better keep quiet."

Selphie looked around the cavern as if she was making sure nobody was there. She went over to the small patch of floors and sat beside them. The moonlight from the crack in the ceiling reflected off her face.

Another set of footsteps followed into the cave room.

"Time to see who Selphie's lover is." snickered Sora. Riku tapped a finger on his chin. He was definitely curious now.

The person finally made it into the room. Selphie looked up at the person and smiled. However, Sora and Riku shared a disappointing glance.

"Hi Kairi!" she greeted.

"It's Kairi." Sora grumbled. Riku chuckled.

"So much for it being any of them." he said jovially. But they still had to keep quiet. They didn't want to scare the pants off the two girls.

"I was looking all over for you," said Kairi, sitting down beside her friend. "When did you discover this place?"

"Just found it. It's pretty cool, huh?" answered Selphie.

Selphie and Kairi were officially ruled out, much to Sora's dismay and Riku's amusement.

"Check out these flowers," Selphie said picking up one, "They're so beautiful."

"Yeah," Kairi agreed, picking one and sniffing it. Selphie turned to Kairi and affectionately placed a flower in her auburn hair. Kairi blushed.

"You look so pretty with it." she said softly.

Riku noticed Sora had crossed his arms and drew his brows together. His  "thinking face" was up.

"Um, thanks." The auburn-haired girl said. Then she added, "You look pretty with the moonlight bouncing off your face like that."

Now Selphie blushed.

"Gee, um, thanks."

Sora's eyes widened.

"Hey, Riku," whispered Sora. "You don't think Kairi and Selphie have a th..."

"No." Riku said, knowing what Sora was about to say. "Just....no."

Sora pouted. Then a mischievous smile crept across his face.

"I've got an idea. Let's have some fun with them."

"What are you suggesting?" Riku asked, eyeing Sora suspiciously. Sora snickered.

"Well it probably won't be as much fun with you as it will be for me!" Riku looked perplexed. Sora cupped both hands over the sides of his mouth and whispered loudly, "Riku!"

"What are you doing?!" demanded Riku.

"Gonna find out what they truly think of you!" Sora giggled. Riku was starting to get mad. Sora called out to the girls again in his whisper voice. "Riku!"

Kairi looked up and tried to find the source.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Selphie asked in confusion.

"I thought I heard something about Riku."

Selphie shook her head. "I didn't hear anything. But while we're on the subject, what do you think about Riku?"

Riku glared at Sora while the brunette just smiled at him.

Kairi thought for a moment. "Well what about him? He's one of my best friends."

Selphie lowered her eyelids halfway and giggled. "Do you like him?"

Kairi thought again. Riku's glare intensified while Sora merely chuckled.

Finally, Kairi shook her head. "Nope. He's just a friend, just like Sora."

"Riku and Sora," Selphie said thoughtfully. "Who do you think is better?"

Sora blinked several times. No, the conversation wasn't supposed to go there!

"Well Riku has the better hair, silver and shoulder-length, how could you not go wild over it?" Kairi said.

"Yeah," Selphie agreed. "Sora's hair defies the laws of physics. How does he use a comb?" The two girls giggled while Riku flashed a smirk at his friend. Sora pouted.

"But what's up with Riku's pants, though?" wondered Kairi. "He could fit a thousand cats in that thing!"

"Hey Riku! The circus called; the clowns want their pants back!" Selphie joked. The girls laughed so hard, they had to clutch their stomach. They ended up falling back from their giggling fits. Both boys were pouting now, arms crossed.

"My hair doesn't defy any laws. It's not a criminal." Sora muttered.

"My pants aren't clown pants." Riku grumbled

-----------------

Tidus sauntered into his house, gloomy as ever. Riku had given him an idea, but he didn't know how to carry it out. The most irresponsible thing he had ever done was forgetting to feed his cat. But aside from disrespecting his father, he was a good person.

So what could he do? He looked around his living room. His parents loved collecting vases and artwork. He also saw his father's Blitzball trophy case from his championship games. Tidus thought for a moment. He could throw a temper tantrum. Break stuff. Destroy valuable things. Jecht's friend wouldn't want his daughter to marry an aggressive person who could snap at any moment so it'd be perfect.

But he shook his head. Way too over-the-top. He didn't want to cause a huge mess he knew he'd end up having to clean up. It had to be something that wouldn't cause harm, but still be frowned upon.

He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to get a drink. This would be tough.

He looked at the choices. Soda. Water. Milk. Orange juice. Jecht's beer.

It clicked. Tidus smirked a naughty smirk. He took out a bottle of Jecht's beer and snickered. This was it. This could possibly be the stupidest and most irresponsible thing he could ever do.

Perfect. Nobody wanted a drunkard for a husband.

-----------------

The girls had long since left, but the two boys were still pouting and huffing.

"My eyes aren't as big as saucers." Riku grumbled.

"You don't think my big shoes are compensating for something, do you?" Sora asked him. Then he looked upwards. "And what does that even mean?"

Riku huffed. "All I know is that when I see those girls again, man will I…"

Sora covered Riku's mouth.

"Shh! I think I hear someone coming. This could be the person we've been waiting for!"

The two boys quieted down while someone entered the cave. This time, it was a familiar redheaded Blitzball player.

"Wakka!" Sora whispered, "Maybe it's him."

Wakka looked around as if making sure no one was there, then motioned someone to come along. In came a raven-haired girl dressed in black. She looked kind of scary, but also very pretty. She wore purple lipstick, and hair hung over her face, covering one eye.

"Who is she?" asked Riku.

"I don't know. Maybe she's with that new family I heard moved to Destiny Islands recently." Sora suggested. Riku shrugged.

"Probably."

"Well here we are, Lulu." Wakka said. Lulu whispered something to him and Wakka whispered back. Sora and Riku couldn't hear, but soon Wakka and Lulu started making out. Sora and Riku looked surprised. But Sora's mischievous grin returned and he started rubbing his hands together.

"I think we found what we have been waiting for." he said devilishly.

"Is it just me or do her boobs look like they're made of Jell-O?" Riku wondered.

Wakka's hands rubbed all over Lulu's back as their tongues explored each other's mouths. Wakka's hands soon stopped and began to remove Lulu's clothes.

Lulu broke the kiss and smacked Wakka's face hard. Riku and Sora winced.

"Ow," Wakka groaned, touching the red mark.

"Is that why you brought me here?" Lulu demanded. "If I had known, I would've sent Thundara right up your-"

"Whoa, Lu, take it easy, ya!" Wakka said, holding his hands up in the air. He could see the fire in his girlfriend's red eyes. "I'm sorry. I just got caught up in the moment. When I found this cave yesterday, I wanted it to be our secret place where we can make out, talk, or just be together with no one else to bother us. Not for us to…you know."

Lulu ran her fingertips down Wakka's face affectionately.

"Well, I suppose I could forgive you." She teased. Wakka blushed crimson red. Sora and Riku looked at each other.

"So it's not them." Sora said, dejected.

"We've been sitting here for, like, two hours. Maybe we should go home." Riku reasoned.

"No! This is usually a late night encounter so maybe we have to wait a while longer before they come." Sora explained. Riku sighed.

"Whatever. I don't know how much longer I'm willing to wait, though."

-----------------

Tidus finished a second bottle of beer. He was getting very tipsy, so he decided one more bottle should do. He didn't want to get too drunk. He had to stay aware of his surroundings so he can pull the next step in his plan, which was to call Jecht's friend again, and ask to speak to his daughter. Then proceed  to talk to her in a drunken stupor. She'll get wigged out, tell her dad, her dad would probably yell at Jecht, call the marriage off, and he was free again. Jecht would seriously get on his case, but he was numb to that so that didn't matter.

He was halfway through the third bottle when he started to feel sick. Things were looking dizzy, he had to hold his head. He couldn't keep his thoughts straight. What was he doing again?

Footsteps pounded into the room. Great. Jecht was home.

Jecht stepped inside the kitchen and saw his son downing a bottle of beer. Anger swelled up inside him, veins popping out of his head. Tidus looked at him.

"Heeeyyyy, Daddy!" he said in a slur. "How'ssss it going?"

"Tidus," Jecht growled, "What have I told you about going through my beer?"

"Uhhh," Tidus looked at the bottle, than glared at Jecht. "What's it to ya anyway? You weren't s'pose to be home by now. You should've been here at." He looked at the clock on the wall that read 10:15. "Laterrrr o'clock." He took another swig. Jecht got furious and grabbed the bottle away from him. He threw it to the ground, causing it to break into a million pieces with a loud crash. He was furious.

He grabbed Tidus and dragged him into the den.

"That wasn't a very smart thing to do, son. I ain't raising a drunkard." Jecht grumbled.

"But I just wanna be like you, daddy." Tidus said sarcastically and chuckled. Jecht had had it. He dragged Tidus to the house entrance and opened the door.

"Stealing my beer and pissing me off. Not a good combination!" He threw his son outside. Tidus landed face first into the sand. He struggled to get up, but the world still looked a bit weird and dizzy to him. He spit dirt out of his mouth and glared at Jecht.

"I wouldn't have done this if you didn't force me into this stupid marriage!" he yelled. Jecht stared at him dumbfounded.

"You're an idiot! You'd actually go through all that just to get out of something I know is good for you?! What a…what a…. Ugh! God! You wanna be a drunk? Wander the streets like one!" He slammed the door, leaving Tidus to wonder if he was allowed back inside. Tidus didn't care. He staggered away, confused about what to do next. He had to admit; this was pretty dumb. He didn't even get to complete his plan. Riku gave good advice, but he went and screwed it up.

"I'm sorry, Riku." Tidus said aloud. Now he had nowhere to go.

Well, he did have one place to go…

------------------------------

Wakka and Lulu had left and the two boys were waiting again for their "free show." But it was getting late and it wasn't happening.

"I'm ready to go." said Riku getting up.

"No!" Sora pleaded, pulling him back down. "They could be coming soon."

"No they're not Sora," said Riku, getting annoyed. "It feels like it's eleven o'clock. We've been sitting for hours and what have we learned?"

"Um, Wakka has a girlfriend, Kairi and Selphie have the hots for each other and I think they hate us." Sora guessed. Riku looked at him, bemused. He shook his head and held up a finger.

"That might be what you've learned, but I learned not to follow your hair-brained ideas ever again." The frustrated teen got up and started to walk away, but his brunette friend clung to his leg.

"No, don't leave Riku, please don't leave!" he whimpered. Riku started to get irritated.

"Sora--!"

The duo stopped their bickering to hear the sound of footsteps yet again.

"This could be it!" Sora said. The two boys dived back behind the rock and watched as the figure came closer and closer. It was walking very strangely. Like it was staggering, instead of walking.

The figure came into the main room and sat down with his back to the wall, opposite of where Sora and Riku were staying. The two boys recognized him.

"It's Tidus!" Sora exclaimed. Riku shushed him. What was Tidus doing here? Surely he wasn't the one?

Tidus reached into his pocket a pulled out a small, square packet. He opened it and pulled out a long, elastic tube like thing. He blew into it, until it was huge. Then he started fiddling around with it, having it make funny noises by barely letting any air out.

"WHAT?!" screamed a voice. Tidus lazily looked up and saw an angry Sora and a chuckling Riku coming towards him. Sora shot a look full of daggers at the young blond.

"You mean to tell me that you were the one with the condoms?" Sora demanded. Tidus looked at his "toy."

"Condoms?" Tidus questioned, "This isn't a condom. It's a balloon."

Balloon? Sora thought. He ran over to the pile of leaves and searched through them. He picked up the "condom" and stretched it around. Yup, they were balloons.

"AAAAARRRGGGHHH!" he moaned. "I can't believe I wasted the entire night just to watch someone play with balloons!!!!"

Tidus looked at Riku and raised an eyebrow. Riku laughed nervously and shrugged.

"That Sora. Weird guy, huh?" He said faking a laugh.

"He's funny. I like him." Tidus said. Riku noticed the slur in his voice and drunken look on his face.

"Um, Tidus, are you, um, okay?" he asked. Tidus pinched Riku's cheek and smiled.

"I just did what you told me too, Riku! I done gone do something urresponsible!"

Riku took Tidus' hand, but instead of removing it from his face, he held on to it.

"What did you do?" he asked softly.

"He looks smashed." Sora observed as he walked back to the other two boys.

"Bingo!" Tidus said happily. Riku and Sora exchanged worrying glances.

"You got drunk?!" Riku exclaimed. "Um…did it work?"

Tidus shook his head and pouted. "Mean old Jecht stopped me before I could go any further! He kicked me out and told me to wander the streets like a drunk." Tidus' eyes started to water. "So I came here. I always come here…when he kicks me out."

"He…does this often?" Riku asked. He had never known this and neither had Sora.

Sora didn't even know what was going on. Riku and Tidus were talking about something, but he didn't know. It was like they were sharing a secret. It actually made him feel a little jealous. He and Riku shared secrets, not Riku and Tidus.

Tidus shrugged. "He doesn't do it often, but when he does…" The young blond didn't want to finish. Riku gritted his teeth. He knew Tidus' dad was a jerk, but now it was starting to bother him very much. In a way he never felt anger before. He stood up, finally taking Tidus' hand off his cheek. He lifted Tidus up and supported him, by putting one of Tidus' arms over his shoulder.

"Come on, Tidus. You're coming home with me. There's no way you're spending the night alone in this cave, especially when you're drunk like this."

"No, Riku, it's okay. I can handle myself." Tidus reassured. Riku shook his head.

"Come on, Sora. You can walk us home." Riku said. Tidus didn't object the second time. Sora nodded and the trio exited the cave.

-------------------------

The boys had made their way to Riku's house with Riku supporting Tidus all the way.

"Thanks Sora, I could take it from here." said Riku. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait!" cried Sora. His silver-haired friend turned his head and looked at him. "How about if I stay over with you? I could help you watch over Tidus."

Riku shook his head. "No thanks. Trust me, I can take it from here."

"Are you sure? I mean, he'll probably…"

"It's okay. I can take care of him."

"But--" Sora persisted. For some reason he didn't want to leave Riku alone with Tidus.

"Sora!" Riku cried, then added gently. "Sorry, but I…just want to be alone with Tidus for tonight. So please…thanks for your offer. But I can handle it."

Sora wanted to protest, but decided to keep his mouth shut. "Okay. I guess I'll…see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya."  Riku opened the door to his house and went inside.

Sora stared at Riku's door for a while, the moonlight shining down from the night sky, allowing its beam to shine upon him. Sora wasn't dumb. He knew something was going on, but he couldn't figure it out. But Riku wanted privacy and he respected that. He'd have to find out in the morning.

----------------------------

Riku led Tidus to his room. Once inside he sat him upon his bed and heaved a sigh. Tidus felt like Riku was disappointed in him. He obviously made too extreme of a choice and now he was screwed for a good long time.

"Riku…" the young blond asked softly, "Are you mad at me?"

Riku raised an eyebrow and knelt beside him.

"I'm not mad at you. Just worried about you. I should've made my idea more clear. I didn't mean for you to endanger your health. I was thinking you could throw a temper tantrum or something. Not get in your dad's beer."

Temper tantrum? Great. Now he tells him.

"But this severity of the situation just proves how far you'll go to get out of this."

"I want my freedom back…" Tidus responded, closing his eyes, to stop the tears. Riku cupped his hands over the younger boy's face and brought his forehead to his.

"I know. If Jecht decides this for you, what'll stop him from taking complete control of your life? I promise, I'll get you out of it. The next thing I think of  will be foolproof."

He kissed Tidus' forehead. He didn't know why he did or what came over him. But Tidus didn't mind. A small blush appeared across both boys' cheeks.

"I care for you a lot, Tidus. I'll go through whatever it takes."

"Th-thank you, Riku." Tidus said gently. Riku got up and headed for the hallway.

"You can sleep in my bed, tonight. I'll take the couch." But when he looked back, Tidus was already fast asleep. Riku smiled at how Tidus looked so innocent in his sleep.

He turned off the lights and left the room.

----------------------------------------------------

Whew! That was longer than expected! I had better get reviews for this chapter since I worked so hard on it. I'd like some feedback and I appreciate those that have given feedback. I hope nobody minds my throwing in Lulu from FFX in there. She's my favorite FF girl. ^_^ She should've been in Kingdom Hearts! Plus I'm a sucker for the WakkaxLulu pairing ::squeals in delight of what's happening in FFX-2::  As for the "her boobs look like Jell-O" comment: that's something one of my friends came up with. How they sway when she does the final strike in a battle and the victory fanfare comes up and focuses on her, it looks kinda like Jell-O she says. She's a weird one. And yeah, things seem to be going in a shounen-ai direction now and I apologize for alienating readers who just don't like that stuff. You may take your hits if you want to. :-( 

But for the rest of you, stay tuned. Things should prove quite interesting. ^_~

Reviews/Constructive Criticism would be appreciated. Flame, if you think I could actually care. Until Chapter 4!