Disclaimer: I don't own any characters involved in this story, although I have named a couple of locations.

Warning: sugar-addict alert! points at Selphie

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Chapter 1: Boredom

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The sun was bright, shining gloriously in the crisp blue sky. Clouds lazily drifted by and looked oh-so-cute in their fluffy ways. The ocean lapped quietly at the pristine sandy beach, and the seagulls were particularly quiet this afternoon.

Sora sighed. "I'm so bored!" he cried, his head resting on his crossed forearms on the beach. He took his crossed legs and shifted around so that he was sitting upright, looking out over the beautiful sea.

"Go find something to do, if you don't like being lazy," Riku replied from his usual perch in the Paupu tree.

Kairi snorted, six feet to Sora's left on the sandy beach. "Yeah, like Sora ever gets tired of being lazy," she said with a giggle.

Sora tossed some sand onto Kairi's new yellow sundress.

"Hey!" she cried, standing up quickly and brushing herself off. "I told Mom that I wouldn't get this dress dirty like all the others!"

"Then why'd ya wear it out here?" Wakka asked from the waterfall pool.

"Because I knew we'd all be sitting around, bored," the girl replied with a smirk.

Sora sighed and fell back onto his back on the beach. "Why did we have to go and explore every place on the island, anyhow? Now there's nothing to do!"

"You can always go home and read a book," Riku suggested.

Sora rolled his eyes and looked over at Kairi, who giggled before saying, "As if."

Wakka jumped down onto the beach and dashed into the surf, his read hair bobbing in the wind, and then the water. His sandals were neatly kicked off on the beach, out of the tide's reach.

"What's he up to?" Sora asked, propping himself up onto his right elbow and looking out at the water.

Wakka dove under a small wave, vanishing from sight. After a moment, his ball burst from the water's surface, rocketing into the air before coming back down to a small splash in the waves. Wakka's head appeared again, his hair fallen into his face. "C'mon in, ya? The water's fine!" he called, waving an arm to the others.

Riku jumped down from the Paupu tree. "Not interested," he said, giving the ocean the cold shoulder. He leapt down from the plateau onto the beach, spraying Sora and Kairi with sand.

"Gah, not again," Kairi muttered, standing and brushing herself off. "You guys will be the death of me, I swear."

"We're not the ones who told our moms that we'd keep our new clothes clean while we play on a sandy beach, now were we?" Sora asked, standing up and looking over at the brunette.

Kairi sighed and broke into a giggle. "No, I guess not." She looked at the sun's position in the sky. "It's getting kind of late. I should start heading back."

Wakka walked up out of the water, drenched. "What? None of you wanted to have a swim with me? That's not very friendly-like, you know," he said, pointing a finger at Riku, who chuckled.

"Wakka, I hate to burst your bubble," Riku replied with a smirk, "but you've got seaweed all over you."

"Eh?" Wakka looked down, noticing his entire front side covered in disgusting, clingy seaweed. "Aw, nuts," he muttered, throwing the ball to the ground and beginning to pick it off of his shirt and shorts.

Kairi giggled, then started heading back towards the dock, where their boats were tied up. "I'm heading home," she said, waving to the others. "I'll talk to you guys later." She turned and ran up the wooden steps onto the dock and started to untie her boat.

Sora sighed and looked back at the other two boys on the beach. Riku was stretching from being in that tree for too long. With his arms raised high over his head, his shirt began to slide up, and Sora caught a flash of navel, to which he blushed and looked away quickly. Riku didn't notice. Sora was sensitive about seeing any flesh normally covered by clothing.

Wakka was still picking the seaweed off of him when Riku turned and started heading towards the dock as well.

"What, you're going, too, Riku?" Sora asked.

Riku stopped and looked back at his friend. "Sure. Why not? There's nothing to do here today." He turned back to the dock and started walking again.

"He's just jealous that I have a higher boredom tolerance than he does," Sora said triumphantly, crossing his arms and laughing.

Wakka rolled his eyes and finished picking the seaweed off of him, and tossing it back into the waves. "Say, Sora, have you seen Tidus lately?" he asked the brunette.

Sora shrugged and shook his head. "Not today. I saw him a couple of days ago. I think he got grounded," he added with a thought.

Wakka raised an eyebrow. "Grounded, eh? From what?"

Sora shrugged again. "How should I know?"

"He lives right next to you."

Sora chuckled. "Oh yeah." He thought for a moment. "I do remember his dad yelling something about how he was a disgrace to the family, or something like that. It must have been pretty big."

Wakka's face became concerned, almost worried. "I hope it's not too serious," he said a little too quietly.

Sora's eyes widened. "What? Do you know something, Wakka?"

Wakka shook his head. "Nah." He brought his head up and looked around the island. "I think I'm gonna head back to town, too. Don't wait up for me, ya?" he told Sora, picking up his ball and heading towards the dock.

Sora gave the redhead a confused look as he walked away, then shook his head. I don't get my friends sometimes, he thought to himself.

- - -

Selphie skated down the road until she noticed Kairi biking her way back to her house. "Hey, Kay!" she cried, waving both arms. This threw her off balance and she toppled onto her rear in the middle of the street. Kairi burst into giggles, which caused her to lose control of her bike, and she, too, fell to the ground.

The girls just sat there for a moment, staring at each other, then broke out into hysterical laughter. Selphie got up and helped Kairi back up onto her bike.

"What's going on?" Kairi asked Selphie. "You weren't at the island today."

Selphie sighed. "Oh, I know. My mom said that I couldn't go today because I didn't eat my green beans last night at dinner."

Kairi made a disgusted face. "I know what you mean. My mom threatens me with not going to the island until I eat my vegetables, too."

Selphie sighed again and shook her head. "I mean, it's just not right. If we were intended to eat vegetables, they would be made out of sugar."

Kairi gave her younger friend a strange look and laughed. "Somehow, Selphie, I don't think that's how you need to look at it."

Selphie opened her mouth to reply, but "Kairi!" could be heard down the street. Kairi's mother was standing on the front porch, watching her daughter talk with her next-door neighbor.

"I gotta get home," Kairi said apologetically, biking around Selphie and into the driveway of the house two yards down.

"No problem!" Selphie cried after her, waving her arms as only she knew how: rapidly, which threw her off balance again, sending her sprawling to the ground. "Aww, man," she murmured. The Tilmitt girl rose to her feet again and turned back towards the harbor and took off at a dash.

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Tidus sat on his bed, eyes wide open and watching the rotating ceiling fan overhead. He sighed and turned, facing out the window across the room. He could see the light from Sora's bedroom through the breaks in the trees between the two houses.

"Damnit," Tidus muttered, squeezing his eyes shut as tears welled up in them. He reached up with his suppressed arm and pulled down the sleeve of his shirt to hide the bruise. I knew he'd take it bad, but that was just too much, the blonde muttered inside his head, drawing the sleeve down to his elbow. Tidus had been lucky that his mother had been there to calm his father down. Of course, she didn't seem too happy about the revelations, either.

Tidus rolled onto his other side, so that he was staring at the blank wall next to his bed. The ceiling light was too bright for shadows to dance across the wall, and Tidus liked it that way. Sometimes, he was afraid to shut his eyes in this house; he was afraid to sleep in this house.

"Whoever invented alcohol should be shot," Tidus muttered to himself. Despite the bright ceiling light, the young blonde was able to close his eyes and slowly drift off to sleep.

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And the plot already starts to thicken! Read and review if you'd like. Next chapter's done and will be up soon.