I felt a bit uneasy as I stood at the end of the bridge, clutching my wooden sword in my hands. Riku looked as able as ever, standing in his own fighting position.

Even though we'd fought with real swords before, with anger and even real fear, we still made time for our practice fights. Now that we had real skill, they were a lot longer and often more painful than before we left the islands. It didn't seem to bother us. It was something to do, and, what can I say? The competition was always a plus; striving for dominance over the other.

My breathing became a bit more rapid as I silently counted to three. The second I mouthed "go," I lunged at him, aiming for his chest, but he gracefully sidestepped and caught me in the back. I rounded on him and hit him hard in the stomach.

I took advantage of his weakened state by landing blow after blow on his upper body. Eventually, I knocked him onto his back and took a moment to rest. Big mistake. He kicked me hard in the ribs, knocking the wind out of me.

Damn, I forgot that he did that! I mentally cursed myself and was hit by a barrage of strikes from Riku's sword. In his fervor, though, he hit me on the side of my face. I tasted blood.

He hadn't meant to hit me, and I could immediately see fear and regret in his eyes. He slowed his attack and I hurried up to regain control. I succeeded in pushing him over again, this time avoiding his kick. I caught him from behind and continued whacking away at him. Soon I'd defeated him; time seemed to slow as he took that last fall.

Exhausted as well, and a bit dizzy from being smacked in the face, I collapsed onto my stomach next to him, my arm draped idly across his chest.

"Good fight." He panted breathlessly, smiling at me.

"Yeah." I replied, smiling as well. I licked a drop of blood from the corner of my mouth.

"Sorry about that." He motioned to my mouth with his eyes, that regret surfacing again.

"Don't worry about it." I grinned at him. "Doesn't hurt."

"Good." His eyes softened. "I don't want you to hurt." He closed his eyes. "So, I guess you won? You're getting better."

"Damn straight I won." I tightened my grip on his shoulder, turning on my side. "And I claim my prize."

Looking back, that was probably a stupid thing to do, but the adrenaline and everything else I was feeling at the moment (mostly victory) caused me to just... Go for it. I sealed our lips together, pulling him closer to me. After his initial shock faded, I parted my lips and slid my tongue into his mouth. He responded most eagerly, licking my lips and exploring my mouth. The coppery taste of my blood and the sweetness of his saliva created an intoxicating mix with an effect equal to that of ambrosia. How I needed him at that moment.... I'll never be able to fathom the depth of my feelings then.

I pulled away, a string of saliva still connecting our lips. I smiled at him with half-lidded eyes.

He looked at me with mild surprise, trying to hide the obvious happiness behind them. "So, you want to... Be with me?"

I nodded.

"Yes."

He smiled widely and kissed me again. I accepted him graciously, pulling his body closer to mine. I moved my hand to the front of his shirt, unzipping it slowly. Naturally, he didn't resist. I began to pull it off of him, causing him to wince.

"You alright?" I said, voice full of concern.

"Yeah, just a little sore." He smirked at me.

"Maybe we should save that for later, then." I pulled him close to me and buried my face in his hair. "We should rest."

I fell asleep rather quickly, my arms wrapped around his waist, his around my shoulders. Heh, we would have time for more intimate contact later.

+++

Yay! Two chappies in one night! That should make up for me being late later, if I am. Work. Beh. I guess I should give you background info, for the two or three of you wondering what the timeline is on this thing. It's, oh, say, a year after the game, making Sora 15 and Riku 16. We'll just say that Sora found him and the secret trailer never happened... OR DID IT? MWAHAHAHA! And the chapter titles: It's a song I made up while I was on my break today. I just felt like using it. Chapter titles are arbitrary as far as I'm concerned. The chorus goes:

Slide your hands up

Under my clothes

Let me feel that heat

And nobody knows

What we do

When the doors are closed

Nobody knows

Nobody knows but us

Oh, and this fic earned me my first flame! If you're curious, read the reviews. You'll know it when you see it. It's exactly what I thought a flame would be: unintelligible, extremely general, and just really, really dumb.