¤ 4 ¤

Riku's Dark Side

Riku was sitting on the beach shore in a joyful mood. He was playing with his new toy and was glad that wood floated in water. The ship would have been quite boring otherwise.

Sora came looking for him that day, and when he found him, he wasn't pleased at all.

"Riku, you haven't let go of that ship since Rina gave it to you," he pointed out directly.

Riku ignored him and continued what he was doing. He didn't care for what Sora had to say.

"And that's not a toy!" Sora said a little louder. "It's a decorative item, for goodness sake. I understand that you cherish it but—hello, are you even listening to me?"

Once again, Riku said nothing. His ship kept on sailing.

Sora was starting to lose it now. He was really getting hectic. He glanced at ship and came to a conclusion that satisfied him. That ship is bad for Riku, I know it. He feared he'd have to do the worst: take it away from him.

"Stop it Riku!" he commaned. Sora reached in front of him and plucked the ship right out his hands.

A sudden change overcame Riku. His face darkened and a fire glowed in his azure eyes. The wind whistled around them, sweeping his silvery white hair this way and that.

"Give—it—back!" he snarled viciously.

Sora was taken aback. He was literally shocked to the bone. Never before had Riku yelled at him. Never. He bit his lip and quivered. The ship slowly fell out his hands. Time slowed down as they both watched the wooden ship fall through the air and land soundlessly onto the sand.

"I knew it..." Sora whispered. "I knew it. You're not you anymore!" Then he ran.

The wind stopped abruptly and Riku's eyes returned to normal. It took him a few seconds to register what he'd done. He hadn't meant to do it, really. But Sora had tried to take away his dream! That was no reason to get mad at him...was it?

"Sora! Please, come back!" he called desperately. "I'm sorry..." His words just drifted into the air, unheard by anyone.

Riku fell on his knees and clutched his head in despair.

What's wrong with me?

Kairi bumped into her cousin with a loud thud.

"Oofh!" they both said, falling onto the walkway.

"Jeez, watch out Kairi! Are you okay?" Rina got up and brushed herself. She held out a helping hand to her cousin. Kairi grasped it and Rina pulled her up.

She took a breather before answering. "Yeah, I'm fine. But forget me. Sora—he's crying."

"What? Are you serious?" Rina inquired, worried. "What happened?"

"I don't know, he said something about Riku."

"Riku?! But—"

"Exactly. I've never seen those two fight before. Well, I really can't say they were fighting, but—"

"Let's go see what this is all about," Rina interrupted. "Something must be terribly wrong if Sora has a reason to cry."

"You're right. He's under a palm tree in the Cove."

"Okay, let's go."

They found him exactly where Kairi said he was. He was sitting up against the palm tree, holding his legs. He looked up when the he saw the tall shadow of Rina's form connected to the tree's own shadow.

"Rina!" He seemed glad to see her. "Riku—he…" He couldn't continue. Sora let his head droop and went back to clutching his legs.

"I think know," she said. "He—" She quickly stopped, realizing that Kairi was still there. Kairi looked at her with intense curiosity. Rina didn't want to worry her; Kairi always overdid things. She would get so worried about Riku that she wouldn't even eat.

"Er—Kairi. Will make a little something for Sora to eat? You know, his fav. That oughta cheer him up."

Kairi nodded and said, "Sure, I'll be back in a jiffy."

Kairi stood at the waterfall before the secret cave. She looked up and sighed. The wind blew the fresh scent of water into her face, and she blink in the presence of such serenity. She looked down at her reflection in the pool.

I'm not stupid. I know she sent me away on purpose. Rina still thinks I'm a sweet little girl. But I'm not.

Everyone always said Rina was strong. But inside, she was strong too. She would face whatever was about come without fear. Nobody had to protect her by keeping secrets—she could take the truth. But she doubted her friends would reveal anything to her. All she knew was that it had something to do with Riku.

Hm... Perhaps nothing's really wrong and things aren't as bad I think they are. I should stop worrying so much. She sighed deeply and kicked a lone pebble into the waterfall. I better get to the kitchen.

"Sora, you can stop crying now." For once, Rina reached out a comforting arm and put it around him.

"I know," he said, his nose clogged up. "I don't even have a reason to cry. But I never thought that Riku would..."

"It's all right. No need to give me the details." She looked up at the sky above, which was as blue as ever. The fluffy white clouds sailed across at their own slow speed. Rina sighed and slouched against the tree, her eyes closed.

Sora wiped his face and looked at her. "Thanks. You're usually not the one to console people." This brought a smile across her face, and she appeared to be back to her old self. Rina sat straight up and clapped him across the head.

He winced and shouted, "Hey!"

"Yeah, crybaby. What're you doing bawling down here anyway? Our island will be no more if you keep the waterworks pouring." This made Sora laugh, and he completely forgot about rubbing the ache in his head.

"I wasn't bawling," he protested in a happy manor.

"Sure. So shall we head back the cabin? I'm sure Kairi's waiting for you." Sora nodded vigorously, sniffing the air.

"Definitely! I can smell it from here!"

Rina smiled wryly. "First one to get there gets two-thirds of it?" she challenged.

"You're on!" Sora replied confidently.

They raced to their destination, Sora running like mad and Rina having no doubts about losing. At the last second Rina changed her mind and slowed down a bit. The race ended up being a tie with Sora not noticing the change in Rina's speed.

"Wow, I think you've improved Sora." He grinned at her proudly.

"You think so? But how do you know you haven't gotten worse, huh?"

"Hmph. Yeah, right. My abilities don't degrade."

They took a step toward the house, the delicious smell of Kairi's cooking wafting to their noses. Sora put a hand on Rina's shoulder and stopped her. He had one last question left.

"Rina, Riku's changed, hasn't he?" he asked. There was a serious look on his face. But Rina never saw it. She brushed his hand off and entered the house. She didn't look back nor did she answer him.

AN: You know, I'm thinking of changing Rina's name. I realized that another girl in one of my stories has the same name. But I can't think of something better at the moment. I might as well leave it the way it is. Chapter 5 is finished, but I'm going to wait a while before I put it up...