A/N: Boy, Chapter 12 already...

Teek: One for each month! ((gets beaned by the Bat out of Hell from Gravitation))

Me: Stop being a dumbass! That's my job.

Mizu: ((snickering))

Me: ((self-satisfied smirk)) I think I'm having a bit too much fun around here. Now all I need is some music and I'd be having way too much fun!

Teek: Sorry, Twerp, no radios in your head.

Me: I wonder how many readers got totally confused by that...

Teek: Every one except Dah, Azui, Ookami, Sidra, Semira, Sorcha, and... I don't think any of your other friends know about this fic, so they probably haven't read it...

Me: You forgot Abunai.

Teek: Oopsie.

Me: BLASPHEMY! HOW DARE YOU FORGET ABUNAI! ((chases Teek around with the Bat out of Hell))

Mizu: Enjoy the chapter!

((something in the background breaks and Teek and I start yelling again))

Chapter 12 (A/N: ((Teek is still getting chased around by me with the Bat out of Hell)) )

Well, so much for the betting contest doomed to failure. They forgot about it eventually. (A/N: Mizu: Did not! Bobbi: Not now, Miyze! Mizu: Stop calling me that!) So, anyway, about a year had passed since Mizu's arrival to the Destiny Islands. (A/N: About now the story line pretty much follows the game. Until the sequel fic, that is! Bwahahahaha!)

Kairi walked up to Sora, who was sleeping on the beach.

"Whoah!"

Kairi giggled.

"Gimme a break, Kairi."

"Sora, you lazy bum! I knew I'd find you snoozing down here."

"No! This huge black thing swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't-- Ow!" Sora had a spitting headache.

"Are you still dreaming?"

"It wasn't a dream! Or was it? I don't know. What was that place? So bizarre..."

"Yeah, sure."

A moment of silence. Then...

"Say, Kairi, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up?"

"I've told you before, I don't remember."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing."

"You ever want to go back?"

"Well... I'm happy here."

"Really..."

"But you know... I wouldn't mind going to see it."

"I'd like to see it too. Along with ay other worlds out there! I want to see 'em all!"

"So what're we waiting for?"

"Hey, aren't you guys forgetting about me?" Riku had shown up, carrying a log. "So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft." Riku tossed the log he was carrying to Sora, who fell over in the attempt to catch it. "S'pose I should go get Kage up?"

"Ready, willing, and able, captain!" Kage called from the stone wall a few dozen feet behind Riku. She then ran up to the group and slid down onto the sand next to Sora like a base-runner hitting home.

Riku smiled at her briefly, then turned back to Kairi.

"And you're as lazy as he is!"

Kairi giggled and looked ashamed. "Heehee. So you noticed. Okay, we'll finish it together. I'll race you!"

"Huh?"

"What, are you kidding?" Riku asked as Mizu giggled into her hand.

"Ready? Go!"

And so every one began racing. Riku quickly pulled into the lead, with Mizu keeping pace behind him with an easy lope.

Riku and Mizu gathered some supplies for the raft, like food, water, and Mizu gathered some stuff she thought might be useful, like knives, rope, nets, a fishing hook and pole, blankets, and a brazier that they could cook their food over and not worry about burning up the raft. Sora still had his stuff to gather.

Mizu and Riku went up to the little island with the Paopu trees.

"Mmm, there's always a good breeze up here," Mizu said as she brushed some of the hair that the breeze was blowing onto her face out of the way.

"Yeah, and it's mostly you talking."

"Oh, so it's like that is it? Huh?"

"What's like what?"

"Don't play innocent with me, buster! You know very well what I mean."

"No I don't, actually. Seriously, Mizu, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I doubt that..." Mizu said as she watched Riku go sit on one of the Paopu tree trunks. She sighed, then looked at him funny, with her hands on her hips, her head cocked to the left, and a concerned look on her face. "Riku, what's wrong? You haven't been acting like yourself lately."

Riku barked a laugh. "Trust me Mizu, you don't know me as well as you think you do."

"I could say the same. It's just that you've been acting... different. Since that night I had that nightmare."

"Every one's accusing me of acting different..." Riku said to himself.

"Okay, you're acting different than from how I know you. It's just a little odd, you know?"

"Not really... Hey, Mizu, can I ask you a personal question? A very personal question?"

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Why do you follow me around all the time?"

Mizu was a little staggered by the question, but answered it as honestly as she could.

"Well... I don't know exactly. I guess it's because..." Mizu walked over and leaned on the trunk next to Riku. "I guess it's because you saved me. I mean, everyone else panicked."

"Sora didn't."

"Hm?"

"Sora's actually the one who told me to go in after you. I would have anyway, but..." Riku paused for a second. "No, Sora didn't panic."

"He's still not the one who went in after me."

"I guess you have a point. But come on, Mizu, you and I both know that's not the real reason."

"I don't know, Riku. I just don't know."

"You sure?"

"Hmm..."

Mizu looked to be deep in thought, so Riku stared out at the horizon.

"Your eyes..."

"What?"

"It's your eyes, Riku. There's something in them... Something about them... Kindness, I think. I trust you unconditionally because of your eyes. You never judge people until you know them. That's a rare quality. One I respect. I remember seeing eyes a lot like yours once. I trusted that person, too. But, that's all I remember."

"So, you follow me around because I spark a memory?"

"No, Riku, that's not it. That's not it at all. It's... hard to put into words. I feel... drawn to you. Attracted. Like... Like we're supposed to be together. Don't you feel something like that whenever you look at me?"

Riku looked straight at her. Right into her sea-green eyes. He understood what she was talking about. He knew it all too well. He got that feeling whenever he even so much as thought of her. He smiled at her, then. He smiled the way he used to whenever they made eye contact. And she smiled back, with that little half-smile he loved so much. Oh how well he knew what she was talking about.

Later that day, at dusk, Riku, Mizu, Sora, and Kairi were sitting on the little island with the Paopu trees.

"So," Sora said, occupying the space Riku had taken up when it was just him and Riku, "Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?"

"Could be," Riku said, now occupying the space Mizu had taken up earlier. Mizu was sitting next to him, under Kairi. "We'll never know by staying here."

"But how far could a raft take us?"

"Who knows? If we have to, we'll think of something else."

"A raft can take people pretty far, if built properly and maintained right. And with enough supplies, of course," Mizu said. Then there was silence for a little while.

"So," Kairi said, breaking the silence, "suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?"

"Well," replied Riku, "I haven't really thought about it. It's just... I've always wondered why we're here on this island." Mizu almost made a smart-allec remark right then, but decided against it. "If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

Sora layed down on the trunk he was sitting on. "I don't know."

"It's possible..." Mizu said, half to herself.

"Oh, don't indulge him, Kage. You'll just get him started again," Kairi said.

Riku ignored that. "That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go."

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi asked.

"Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. Kairi thanks."

Kairi giggled. "You're welcome."

Riku reached down and gently stroked Mizu's cheek with a finger. He in truth had her to thank for all of his thinking. They had stayed up late together a lot discussing such matters.

When they all went home later, Riku called out to Sora.

"Sora." Riku threw him a Paopu fruit. "You wanted one, didn't you?"

"A Paopu fruit..."

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives, no matter what. C'mon, I know you want to try it."

"What are you talking--?"

Riku laughed. Mizu, walking a little ahead of the boys, couldn't help but smile. At least Riku was back to laughing again.

A/N: I had a little fun with this chapter. Most of it wasn't even part of the original fic. Actually, what I have written down will be divided into three different chapters, instead of just skipping a bunch of the Kingdom Hearts story line. Just think, though. A few more chapters and I'll be done typing up this fic and can move on to the next one, which is written down, completed, and ready for typing!

Teek: I can't believe you're doing a series of fics.

Me: Me neither! It's a little ambitious as these are my "introductory fics," so to speak...

Teek: Whatever, Twerp.

Me: ... Does using the Kingdom Hearts script I downloaded off the internet count as cheating?

Teek: HOW CAN YOU CHEAT WHEN WRITING FANFICS!

Me: You know, since I'm in hentai mode right now, that sounded ever so wrong...

Teek: Grr...