Riku had never thought it would happen again.

            But it did.

            That morning, he woke up next to Kairi.

            Admittedly, it must have been a mistake, but it felt wonderful nonetheless.  She must have been sitting with him for a long time before pitching into the pillow.  Even now her fingers lingered around his.

            Last night was a little blurry.  He hadn't been feeling well…he'd fallen several times, stumbled his way home.  He had found Kairi alone in the kitchen, and she'd taken care of him.  Then she had helped him to bed, and stayed with him when he asked.

            He remembered the light feeling of her lips on his forehead as he fell toward unconsciousness…

            She looked so sweet now, her face cushioned on the pillow.  In the hazy light, her hair spilled out across the bed looking like a dark pool of blood…  It smelled sweet, though.  He touched it, dared to raise a few fingertips to her face and let them brush her skin.

            Kairi would never be his…but he had this moment.  Sora was probably in Kairi's dreams, but Riku was the one next to Kairi this morning.

            Her eyelids fluttered, and he took away his hand.  He pretended to sleep.

            Riku sighed to himself on the inside.  His moment was over.  It had been great while it lasted.  Short and sweet…as their relationship had been.

            Kairi made a confused noise as soon as her eyes opened.  "Eh?  When did I…?"

            Riku could see, from the slits between his eyelashes, Kairi sitting and rubbing her back.  Her silhouette faced him.  She squeezed his hand.  "Oh, Riku, I hope you slept well."

            He didn't move.  He let his hand lay dead in her grasp.  Don't let go of me.

            She moved around on the bed, but he couldn't tell exactly what she was doing.  He peeked and saw that she was sitting with her back against the headboard.  Her eyes were closed, like she was still a little tired, or maybe thinking.  She hadn't let go yet.

            Riku wanted to sit like this forever.

            He would have, too, if another headache hadn't struck and he hadn't passed out.

            Kairi blushed at him a little.  She wasn't wearing much; only a sleeveless, backless shirt.  Her skin was sweaty after the humid night and her shoulder-length red hair clung desperately to it.  Kairi's cheeks and lips were very red.

            Riku laughed and grabbed her shoulders and indulged the girl in a long kiss.  He didn't restrain himself today.  She was the most beautiful woman in the world—and she was all his.  He wasn't about to miss a second of her affections.

            Kairi opened her lips immediately, pushing her mouth against Riku's.  She hugged his torso, pulling her body against his chest.  The two were so hot and sweaty, they almost stuck to each other.

            Suddenly, she drew away and giggled, and toppled back on the bed, laughing.

            "What are you laughing about?" Riku said, going down next to her.  He propped himself up on an elbow.

            He noticed she was blushing again, and he raised his hand to wipe sticky hair from her face.  "Hmm?"

            Her eyes shone bright as stars.  "I just feel so wonderful, Riku.  I can't describe it.  I love being with you."

            "Same here," he whispered, stroking her cheek.  "I wish I could wake up next to you every morning."

            Riku's heart felt light.  He had never been able to be so honest with his feelings.  Now he could tell Kairi everything, and expect only her smile in return.  He didn't have to be angry and alone anymore.  He didn't have to be an outcast of a seventeen-year-old young man; he could be someone.  He could be Kairi's someone.

            Kairi took his free arm and put it around her waist.  Her face was, at most, an inch from his.  She reduced the distance, wrapping her hand around his neck and pulling him down to her lips.  "I love you, Riku."

            He closed his eyes and kissed her.

            Kairi was his.  For all his days, he would watch over her.  He would never let harm come to her, never.  He would protect her until the moment he died…

~*~

            "Kairi?"

            Kairi jerked her head up to see Selphie standing in the doorway, Nadia in tow.  The brunette's eyes narrowed.  "Hey, what's up?"

            Kairi gulped.  She was still sitting on the bed.

            "Nadia, can you leave us alone?"

            "Mommy, is Papa all right?"  The little girl's voice trembled terribly.  Her cheeks went pale when she saw her father curled up on the bed, his face locked into a contorted expression of pain.

            "Yes, now run along," Kairi ordered.  "And shut the door, Selphie."

            Selphie guided Nadia out and closed the door.  "Kairi, is Riku okay?"

            "No…  He just screamed and then…then he was like this.  And ever since…  I don't understand."

            "How long has this been going on?"

            "Since right after I woke up."

            "It's ten right now—"

            "Oh, God!  Ten?  It's been hours then…"  Kairi's chest felt heavy.  "What's wrong with him?"

            "I don't know.  Should we call a doctor?"

            "The only doctor is on the other side of the ocean!"

            "It would take him a whole day to get over here…"

            Kairi gulped back tears.  Riku, please be all right!

            And, as if to answer her, Riku's features relaxed until his face went smooth as an undisturbed lake.

            "Hey…what was that?"  Selphie peered over.  "Now he just looks like he's asleep."

            Kairi put her ear near his mouth.  "His breathing sounds a lot better, too."

            "Look…I don't really know what this is.  I only came over because you never picked up Nadia—"

            "Oh, I'm really sorry!  I wasn't thinking…"

            Selphie shook her head.  "No, I'm not worried about that."  She looked into Kairi's eyes.  "You sure aren't looking your best…  Been sitting here worrying all morning?"

            Kairi nodded.  "I didn't want to leave him for a second…in case…"

            "I understand.  Here, you can stay.  I'll take Nadia back to my house again.  And I'll talk to Tidus when he comes back tonight—about the doctor."

            Kairi sat down on the bed again, breathing a sigh of relief.  "Thanks, Selph."

            Selphie gave her friend a quick embrace.  "It's no problem.  Now take care of yourself, too, okay?  I'll talk to you tonight."

            "Okay, okay.  Thank you again."

~*~

            That day, toward the unsuspecting Selphie, Nadia began throwing the first tantrum of her life.  She screamed, cried, screamed, kicked, screamed, broken, screamed, run, and screamed some more.

            "I want to see Papa!  I want to see Papa!"

            "Na—Hey, no, don't touch that!—Okay, okay, Nadia, you can't see him right now…"

            "Nadia wants to see Papa now!"

            She let our cries so shrill that it was a wonder all the glass in Selphie's house didn't shatter.

            "Nadia, that vase is very special—please don't go near it—"

            "I want Papa!"

            "Look, he's sick right now…  You can see him later—"

            "Now!"

            The tears began and all Hell broke loose.

            Selphie tried to comfort the girl, but it was no use.  Nadia had a lot of strength in that little body of hers, and she used all of it to wrench free from the woman's arms whenever they got around her.  Nadia also kicked and threatened to bite.

            "Nadia wants to see Papa now!"

            "You can't, Nadia."

            "Now now now now now!"

            "You can't!"

            "What if…what if Papa dies?"

           Selphie inhaled sharply.  Time seemed to stop.  The world melted away and very quickly it was only her looking into the little girl's tear-soaked face.  Nadia, suddenly, looked very grown up and serious.  Selphie thought she might faint.  Nadia…when did you become so mature?  You're only seven…right?

            "Your father is most certainly not going to die.  Wouldn't I be a bit more worried if that were true?"

            "What if he dies and nobody knows?"

            This is ridiculous.  Kids don't understand the concept of life and death.  They can't understand it…

            "Nadia, calm down a minute!  Honestly, he's fine.  Kairi's taking care of him."

            Nadia sniffed a little.

            Selphie collapsed on the couch.  She wasn't up for this.  She had a baby due in a couple months, and she was tired from chasing Nadia around.  God, don't tell me this is what parenting is like!  I wanted to have kids originally because Nadia was so well behaved…

            "Come and sit by me," Selphie said, trying to maintain a motherly persona.  She patted the cushion next to her.

            Nadia clambered over and climbed up.  She put her arms around Selphie's middle and dug her small face into the woman's side.  "I want Papa…" she whispered.

            Selphie stroked the girl's hair.  "I know, sweetie, I know.  But you need to stay with me today, so your mom can take care of him.  Is that okay?"

            Nadia hugged Selphie a little tighter.  "Okay…"

            Selphie embraced the girl in return, and inwardly gave a sigh of relief.  She made a mental note not to mention this incident to Kairi.  That poor woman must have had enough stress on her already.

~*~

            Sora held his mother's hand as they walked through the orchard.

            "Aren't the trees beautiful?" the woman remarked.  She reached up and touched one of the lower blossoms, cradling it in her palm.

            Sora's parents had gone into the fruit business after relocating, and they now owned several acres of trees that stretched behind a modest but beautiful house on the seashore.  His mother had taken him for a walk because the trees were finishing their yearly blossom.  White and pink petals littered the ground underfoot, while a few flowers lingered overhead.

            "I've never seen flowers like these," Sora remarked, breathing in the perfumed air.

            She smiled at him hugely.  "The soil here is special—different from any other place on any of the islands.  Your father was a genius to find it."

            "Yeah…"  Sora touched his hand to the light tan bark of one tree.  "I like the air here.  Not clogged up…like in the house."       

            His mother said quietly, "He won't quit."

            "I know.  I know."

            She released his hand then, and combed her hair with all ten fingers, letting the sand-colored strands free.  "I love it out here, though.  We take walks in peak season…  It's even more lovely than now."

            Sora looked around.  "I think it's fine the way it is."

            The man kept his hand against the light bark.  The natural world was so wonderful.  He could hear birds, smell fertile soil underneath and flower blossoms all around, and see everything bathed in such vibrant colors—greens, browns, reds, yellows, whites, pinks, blues—nothing was black, nothing was dark.

            I'd like to take Kairi out here.  Has she been?  I don't know.  She's pretty rooted at home, I think.  But she would love something like this.  Anyone would.

            "Why did you move, Mom?" Sora wondered.  "Just…liked it better here?"

            The woman shook her head.  "I couldn't take it anymore at home…  Everything reminded me of you.  The beach where you played, the house—everything.  I couldn't have another baby; all I could do was sit and miss the son who everyone said wasn't coming back.  Your father…maybe he just got fed up with my sulking…  He investigated the land out here and was able to buy all of this."

            Sora looked around the huge orchard again, noting how the shadows danced happily on the ground under the breeze-taunted trees.  Flower petals floating around him…  This place wasn't bad at all.  He would definitely ask Kairi to come with him, perhaps next season when all the flowers were born anew.

            "I think Dad did it for you.  To make you happy."

            His mother was facing away from him now, so he couldn't read her face.  Her voice sounded very far off, however.  "Yes…  I think so, too."

            He caught a stray petal in his hand.  It was very white, and very crisp as it rested in his palm.  Something about this time of the season…  How the trees had given a brilliant show and ended it so gracefully…  It seemed very beautiful to him.  In his heart, it meant something very big.  There was no describing it.

            All of a sudden, as if in a dream, Sora saw his mother and father, hand in hand, walking down the corridor of trees as the fading petals swirled around them.

            He wanted to reach out and touch that dream, wanted to grab Kairi's hand and chase after.  He wanted to walk together with these people he loved, these people he had not seen for half his life, and smile and laugh like time was an illusion, and therefore meant nothing.  He wanted to walk through the trees as they lost their blossoms, wanted the dying petals to swirl around him, wanted to witness such a beautiful ending.

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Good, wistful chapter, I hope?  I hope you were thoroughly stagnated by my obscene lack of plot advancement.  It's pretty common of me.  Whoo-hoo.  Hey, I think I deserved something a lil' whimsical after this week.  Ugh, this week.  I'm surprised I made it out alive.  Nights with two hours of sleep, four tests, one huge project, ugh.  Ugh ugh ugh!  Next week finals start, and I really need to get my brain in gear and study, because I, like, don't remember anything.  I'm serious.  And I hope the formatting works out on this chapter, because whenever I've had large chunks of italicized type in the past, the last few bits always become unitalicized—no matter what I do!  I mean, I will go back and reformat and save as a html file again and again in Word and re-upload and refresh a dozen times at ff.net, and it still is screwy, and sometimes I scream at the computer and my family…worries.  So if format ever seems a little weird, it's not for lack of effort on my part.  Trust me.