Sora rowed back to his house alone. Riku had made it into the boat with Kairi before Sora could even get to her. He could see their boat off in the distance and muttered a childish curse.

            His mother greeted him from the kitchen as he took off his wet clothes, slipping into a bathrobe.

            "Did you go swimming tonight, dear?" Sora figured she must have heard the wet thud of his clothes on the floor.

            "No," he replied sourly. "Riku and I got into another fight." I can't tell her we were arguing over a girl, he thought.

            "Well, I hope someday you two learn to get along," she said, half-teasing. "Did you eat?"

            "Yeah mom, I'm fine." He went up to his room, leaving a pile of clothes in the entryway.

            He lay out on his bed and stared out the window, towards their play island. He had fought long and hard to keep the island from being turned into a fishing outpost by the adults, mainly because of its proximity to his house. The kids that played there had named him the official guardian; if anything went wrong there he was to be the first to investigate.

            Now that Kairi had arrived he could sense Riku's attitude changing. He was becoming overly protective of the young girl, almost to the point of excluding Sora from their fun. Sora had to admit, though, that he really really liked the red-haired orphan. I don't think I know what love is yet, he thought, and I'm definitely not old enough to kiss, he cringed slightly at the word,  but I'm sure that's what I feel.

            Suddenly a star went out. It grew very bright before gradually getting dimmer, until it winked out completely. That was strange, he thought. I've never seen that before… He noticed that other stars were getting dimmer just as that one had, all across the sky.

            Sora began to wonder what other worlds were out there, not islands in the ocean, but in the ocean of stars. He sighed as he dreamt of he and Kairi sailing among the stars, exploring new lands and finding great treasures. Comforted by this fantasy, he found himself drifting off to sleep. He gazed out the window one final time to see one star in particular that was barely lit at all.