Note: Well, sorry for the prolonged wait, and the shortness of this chapter. I'm actually sneaking this on, so don't let anyone know! I'm not supposed to be on this comp, soooo...well you get the idea. Long story short, few probs with it, but I knew it'd be safe to load this really fast. Hope you enjoy it! Oh, and don't think I've been doing nothing. Once I can again, I plan to put up two more chapters of this, another short story, andhopefully update twin mirros!

Life had continued as usual for the past three years. Rikku, Kairi, and I attended school, went home, did our homework, then met up somewhere every day. The exact same routine for the last three years. I could have cared less, because even though I would never say it to her, spending time with Kairi was all I ever really wanted to do, but Rikku was an entirely different story. I noticed he was starting to get restless, but I never said anything until one day after school we went to the children's island, and I could tell something was really bothering him.

"Rikku, what's wrong?" I about fell over as Kairi said exactly what I was thinking as soon as I opened my mouth.

"Nothing…nothing's wrong…" He kept his eyes focused down towards the sand as we walked along the beach toward the back of the island.

"Yeah right." I said, finally rejoining the conversation. "You know me and Kai know you better than that. What's wrong?" He threw a helpless glance towards us then sighed, shrugged, and started in with his tale.

"I'm just sick of this place, that's all. I'm tired of doing the exact same thing day in and day out. I want something new, anything new, to happen, before I go out of my mind. This place is like a prison."

"Well…why haven't you left yet?" Kairi said, casting him an inquisitive look. Rikku almost looked taken aback, as though he hadn't expected her to say that.

"Because of you guys. I'm not just going to leave you here. I couldn't do that. You two are really the only thing keeping me here. It's not like I'm staying for dad or anything."

"Why is that keeping you here?" I said, placing my hands behind my head, fingers locked.

"Why wouldn't it? You two are all I have in this God forsaken place."

"Well, did you even think to ask us if we wanted to go with you?" Kairi caught us both off guard with this statement. I thought she had been happy around here. Now all of the sudden she wanted to go too?

"Cause you two seemed to be happy here, and I wasn't gonna make you leave just for me."

"Hey, what else are friends for?" I said. "But if we're gonna do this, we need a plan."

"What do you have in mind?" Rikku said, casting me a quick glance.

"I don't know…maybe we could build a raft or something and get out of here that way."

"That's a great idea Sora!" Kairi said, jumping up and down as she turned towards me. "It'll give us something to do over the summer, and then we won't have to go to school next year. We can go off and have a huge adventure! We can all go together!"

"You know what? That isn't a half bad idea. I really need a change of scenery, and this might just be the way to do it." Rikku said, his hand cupping his chin as though he was deep in thought. "We can build one and then get out of here at last. To sea we go!" Rikku said, thrusting his hand in between the three of us.

"To sea!" me and Kairi said, placing our hands on top of his.

"We can start gathering some tools over this last week of school," Rikku went on, "and then we can go out and look for some materials and start building it hopefully by half way through summer."

"We should keep it a secret though," I piped in. "If our parents find out, they might try and stop us."

"Good idea, Sora. Well, I've got to head home. Dad wanted me home early for dinner. Something about needing to talk to me about that detention I got." It was a surprise that Rikku was actually listening to his dad. They never had been on good terms since Rikku's mom had died. It was like they had both blamed each other for her sickness.

"See ya Rikku!" Kairi yelled out as he made his way to the pier. I waved to him; he returned the gesture before he hopped into his boat and started to paddle to the mainland. Once Rikku was out of sight, Kairi turned to me.

"Do you think it'll work?"

"Who knows?" I said, shrugging my shoulders. "If it does it does, if not then it won't." I didn't show it, but I was starting to get excited about the whole idea of going of on an adventure with both Kairi and Rikku. I'd thought of going off to distant lands before, but I'd always dismissed it as childhood fantasy. Now we were going to actually try it.

"Yeah, maybe we'll actually learn something about my past…" Kairi said, her eyes dropping to the sand.

"Is that why you were so excited about going out on this little expedition of ours?"

"Yeah…" she said, raising her eyes up to meet mine.

"Well, maybe we will, but maybe we won't. No matter what happens though your still you. Even if you find out something you don't like, your still the person you are now."

"Yeah!" Kairi said, perking back up when I said this. "Do you wanna go for a walk around the island?"

"Sure," I said, trying to hide the fact I was really eager to go. Kairi still noticed though, and gave a slight giggle. She jogged ahead a bit, and I came alongside her. We both slowed down as we reached a part of the island that was out of view of the mainland. After this, we walked along for a bit before Kairi finally spoke up.

"Sora, do you remember when I told you that I'd figured something else out about my past?"

"Umm, I don't think so…wait a sec…yes I do! That night we celebrated your second year being here right? That was three years ago though, so I don't remember all that well." I didn't want her to know that I still remembered that night perfectly because that was the night she'd given me a kiss.

"Well, I think I might finally be ready to tell you. I've been having the same dream lately, and I had a sudden urge to tell you."

"Really? Why all the sudden?"

"I'm not sure, but something inside of me made me want to tell you." She'd returned to staring at her feet as we walked along.

"Well?"

"What I remember in my dream is a scientist. Something about him is very warm and inviting. That is how the dream starts anyway. Then his clothes become black and red, and he loses all of his warmth. I keep hearing him say something about the power of darkness, but I can't make out anything else he is saying. Something about him really scares me though." She stopped walking and stared into my eyes, pleading with me to understand.

"How do you think it affects your past?"

"I'm not so sure it affects my past, but our future. I think that's why I had to tell you. I'm certain he is in my past, but something tells me he's coming back."

"What, to Destiny Islands?" I didn't entirely comprehend everything she was saying, but I could tell it was all important.

"I'm not sure, but it feels as though he's close, like he's looking for something. I don't think him coming would be a good thing." She was staring at the ground again as she spoke.

"I don't think you should worry. Even if he does come back and something bad happens, I'll protect you."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Thank you, Sora." As she spoke I noticed tears starting to form on the edges of Kairi's eyes.

"What's wrong?" I was confused, just a few seconds before she'd seemed fine. Had I done something wrong? Before I had a chance to think about it more, she had collapsed into my arms. I wrapped them around her, almost on instinct.

"Do you promise?" she asked me again.

"Yes. I won't let anything happen to you, and if I ever lose you, I'll come find you." I knew I wasn't lying, because that answer was etched on my heart. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to Kairi.

"Don't let me go…" Kairi spoke very softly now, he voice barely audible.

"I'd never let go. I'll always be here for you Kai." Kairi settled even deeper into my arms, and cried for what seemed hours. I didn't care. Being there with Kairi was all I'd ever really wanted anyway.