D/N: Umm. . . .bows Yesh. I must make my thanks for anyone who, so far, has read my FIRST story. Maybe not comment, but, still, at least someone read it. Okay, so, Uh, Hatori is kinda . .. perverted.

Disclaimer: . . .. If you think that I own Kingdom Hearts, then you're a sadly mistaken little person.

I ran off down to the beach, flinging sand behind me as I reached the dunes. Knowing that Hatori would follow me as soon as he saw me running, I choose to weave through the tallest and slipperiest dunes, ones that I used many times to annoy me. He couldn't resist a chase, especially when his "prey" was a female. As I turned a corner, I could hear him swear colorfully as he slipped in the sand, and snickered evilly.

The stretch of beach that the kids were working on their raft was a flat, wet patch that had no trees or dunes, and had the maximum amount of sun, wet sand, and water. This was the place to be when you wanted a tan or a meeting place for some of the games that are often played on the beaches, such as capture the flag or even tag. There was always someone watching the younger children in the water, someone who knew how to swim and save anyone who might have stupidly floated out too far; our own personal lifeguard. Yet, the last incident like that was years ago, when one child had built their own raft, and, when no one was watching, set sail, only to have it fall apart from under her feet after a few hundred feet out in the water. One of the Elders had fortunately been about at that time, and that was also the time when the elders finally decided to secretly dismantle any hand-made raft that they saw the other kids building, only allowing the use of good boats, and proven vessels that wouldn't be likely to leak when they were sailed. I had two of such boats, and took them out frequently with some of the children, who loved the experience.

The kids in question were in the center of this stretch of beach, and two of the boys were yelling at each other at the top of their lungs, surrounded by the others. At such a close range to the two, I could discern what they were saying, but it was something that I had rather not heard from kids their age.

The first boy I had spotted, a small child with a bright shock of orange hair, roared, "Damn you! I did it by accident! Why can't you listen to what I say!"

The second boy, a kid who had a rather large amount of sand in his black hair retorted, "Well, then you'll better goddamn well watch where you are going and accidents won't happen! Dick!"

A girl looked up, past the two fighting boys, her resigned face showing that she had given up trying to control them any longer, and her face brightened up as she saw me. I strolled up to the two casually, and picked them up by the back of their shirts, pulling them away from each other, "What're your names?" I asked, as simply as if I had run into them on the street.

The orange haired kid's face fell, the color draining from his cheeks, realizing the trouble he could be in for picking a fight, "Fred."

The other kid tried to look calm, "Peter."

"Haha! What boring names! I'm Raine. Now, I've been here long enough to see a lot of fights when one makes a raft, but this is pathetic! Do you know how many times I've been whacked over the head with a log and did not complain? Do you want a girl to get the better of you?"

"But you're old!" That was Peter, the insolent one, it seemed.

"Sixteen to be exact! The first time I had my head bashed by a log was when I was about eight or nine, and I think that's much younger than you two. So a really little girl is being better than the two of you."

Silence stretched between us, the two boys looking at each other as though they were going to bolt as soon as I let go. The girl nervously put in, "Do you think you could help us build this? I'm afraid we don't know anything about raft building."

I shook my head, still cheerful, "None of the other Elders will allow me, and you know that. Remember the story of Meredith? How she almost floated away?"

They nodded, duly, and I continued, "Well, that's why I can't help you. I'd be stripped of my privilege to come down here, you know, or my parents will know, and that's not something that I want to happen. How about you go and practice building sand sculptures, or something? They're easy, and fun. Last year, we held a sculpting contest; we'll do that again if we have enough interest. There's all sorts of prizes, depending on how you rank And, as I recall, the first-prize last year was an x-box."

They eagerly scrambled off, Peter and Fred acting friendly once again, their differences seemingly forgotten over the possibility of winning a gaming system. I chuckled, and turned, to head back up the dunes and back to my tree, where Em was no doubt waiting for me. Hatori launched himself from behind one of the dunes, and threw me to the ground behind another, pinning my arms effectively, "I caught up to you! Yes! Now, are you going swimming with me!"

"How about when I have a swimsuit? School is almost out, so I should be wearing one almost every single day this summer. Good?"

"When will that be?" He looked hopeful.

"Pervert. Tomorrow, then, okay? I mean, come on, today the water is probably freezing! The water has had only a few days of warmth and sun; give it time to warm up, first. I've got to get back to Em." I stood up, but he clung to one calf.

"What, you, of all people, are hanging out with Em! You! What has this world come-"

"I got a new bathing suit for this summer."

He stopped in the middle of his rant, and looked at me, "Bikini or one piece?"

"A nice bikini. What do you say?"

He stared off into space, and smiled, misty eyed, "Oh, a sexy g-string, if I have any say in it. . . With string ties? And a low bikini line, with a small top? Barely modest, of course. I mean, there are kids here, and other men!"

He ducked as I tried to smack him over the head, and he laughed, running toward the water, "I hope its cold! I'm going to need it!"

I laughed, watching as he threw himself into the water with a yelp, and turned, resuming my march through the dunes, back to my tree, where Em sat at the bottom of, tossing a coconut into the air and catching it, only to toss it up in the air again, higher than the time before. I stopped, seemingly not noticed by Em, and snatched the coconut out of the air above her. She grinned goofily up at me, and asked, her voice receding into the little girl voice that she had before, "Ready to go, Raine?"

I stared down at her, "I'll throw the coconut at you if you talk like that again. But, yeah, I'm ready."

She threw herself on my legs pleadingly, "Oh, my mistress! Don't throw that hard coconut at me! It'll damage my pretty little porcelain bones!"

I couldn't help it; I began to giggle insanely, and fell down, backwards and onto my back, "Ow, Em! Be careful! Let's go, then!"

She stood, and helped me up, instantly her happily calm self that I had become friends with a few minutes ago. "Yes, let's! I think that it's going to rain soon, actually. I took a quick peek to the northeast while you were gone." She led the way to the thick undergrowth that separated the real forest from our paradise, and the path that led directly out of paradise and into the forest was about a mile up the beach, only a couple hundred feet from the shoreline, which, for someone who was any bigger than Hatori, who was skinny for his age, would probably get stuck. That's why there weren't that many Elders here, since they weren't able to squeeze through the undergrowth.

Em unflinchingly lifted an overlarge fern leaf which dripped webs onto her head, and beckoned me to follow her after she had crawled under. I did as she asked, and found myself in the middle of tangled underbrush. Em looked around, her lips pursed, as if in confusion, and then she laughed, to herself, and pushed aside some vines confidently, and warned me, "There's poison ivy hanging down over here. Don't let it brush your head; I don't want you getting any of it on you."

I nodded, and ducked as soon as I passed the vines, even though I couldn't see the poison ivy; it was always better to be safe than sorry. Em stopped at a large oak tree, tangled in a mess of vines, bushes and ferns. She thrust a rather large bush aside and revealed a large cavern created by the entangled plants, which had enough light filtering down from above that we both would be able to see, yet was tight enough together that we wouldn't get wet by the rain at the roof. Em jumped from the ledge and landed on the soft, surprisingly carpet-covered bottom of the cavern, and offered to help me down, but I ignored her offer, and landed lightly on all fours.

I straightened, and looked around curiously at the other man-made items in the room. A few beanbags lined one wall, looking as if they were rarely used, while a few sleeping bags were rolled in a corner, stacked up in a neat pyramid, along with several pillows and extra blankets. Em winked at me, "I always sleep out here, and I've been looking for some people to sleep here with. I don't exactly have that many friends, with my job keeping me busy so often. Maybe we'll sleep here from time to time? You, of course, can use it whenever you want."

I heard a rumble of thunder above, and thought for a moment, hearing that the storm was still a bit away, "Do you mind if I invite Hatori down here? I'm sure that he'll be happy to be out of the rain. He likes swimming, but doesn't like the rain for some reason."

Em plopped down on a beanbag, stretching out comfortably, "Sure! I have plenty of snacks down here to last several months! It might be cut down to only a month or two with a guy, but, still; he won't eat us out anytime soon, you know."

I grinned, and hopped back up onto the entrance, and pulled the bush aside, which was lighter than it looked, and she called, from behind, "Are you sure you remember the way back?"

I tapped my temple playfully, "Of course, m'dear! I'll be right back, and set up a few sleeping bags! I bet we'll be here all night."

She nodded with a giggle, and began unrolling a few sleeping bags as I ran off, almost forgetting about the poison ivy and ducking right before getting a face full of the nasty plant. I found Hatori in my tree, sitting at the top and looking out at the incoming clouds, distaste on his face. I waved to him as soon as I reached the trunk and called, "Hatori! If you promise not to molest me, then I'll take you to a place out of the rain."

He looked down at me, curiously, "I'm game. Let's go!" He leapt down from the tree with the audacity that I never could dare, and I led him to the secret area without another word.

I pushed aside the bush, and pointed down into the cavern, "I have my cell phone, so we can call home if the storm gets too bad, and say that we found a place in the woods to spend the night. You know, the tree house, the same excuse as always."

He leapt down, rolling once he hit, barely graceful, yet still warrior to the core, and I followed him, cat-like like always. He greeted Em with a grin, "Hey, girl! You look different, somehow."

I whacked him over the head, "That's not how you greet someone, idiot!"

He rubbed the spot where I hit him, then bowed, "Sorry about that, Em. Good to meet you. My name's Hatori."

Em giggled, "Aw, don't get formal on me! You were cuter when you were rude."

Hatori mouthed, as though at a loss for words and began to blush. I laughed at him, "Em, you broke through his tough exterior! Girl, you're cool!"

"Well, I do try." She tapped Hatori on the shoulder lightly, "Aww, come on, stop doing that. You look like-"

Something thundered outside of our shelter, and I yelped; it was too close too soon. Hatori and Em gazed, frightened, up at the top of the shelter as there was more rumblings, and then silence. There was not the comforting hiss of rain that followed. Hatori glanced around, and chuckled nervously, "Are you scared of a little thunder, Raine?"

I shook my head violently, "No way in hell could that be thunder, Haa-chan." I climbed up onto the ledge, and then was about to pull the bush aside. Both Em and Hatori were by my side as they realized what I was about to do.

"No, Raine! Don't go out; you don't know what is out there!" Hatori hissed in my ear, his hands tightening on my shoulders. Em grabbed one of my arms to restrain me the best she could.

"But how will we know what is out there if we don't look? If you're that nervous, then how about we all go out together, so that we'll be able to observe more, and yank the others back out of danger?"

They exchanged glances, and then both nodded almost at once, "That sounds like the best thing to do, then." Em decided, and we took a deep breath and pulled aside the bushes at once.

D/N: I had a lot of trouble cutting this section off. Hahaha, Yeah. Okay. Read and review and leave as many little helpful criticisms as possible! Hehehe. bows Thank you for being so patient with me! We'll get to action in the next chapter, I promise! I needed the first three chapters to set up. .. XD bows again