Whee!

Sorry about this story's progression schedule. I hate having other things interrupt creative thought processes.

This chapter has a lemony good taste to it. Please don't read the second half if this offends you.

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Twilight Gaze

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8: Gifts

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"Uwaaaa!"

Selphie toppled over and slammed her knee hard onto the ground in the attempt to break her fall. She cried out in pain and gripped her leg as she rolled around for a moment. Kairi was on her in no time, trying to calm her down and straighten out her leg, but the brunette just wouldn't cooperate.

"Don't make me call Wakka!" Kairi threatened.

Selphie stopped screaming, but still hugged her leg close to her chest. She was exposing her panties to the entire street, had anyone been around to look. Kairi blushed and felt her anger levels rising. She was being childish!

"You didn't break it, now let it go," Kairi demanded. Selphie finally conceded and let go of her injured knee.

"Don't call Wakka," Selphie whispered, tears in her eyes. She was pleaded with Kairi now.

Kairi sighed and rolled her eyes. "Like I would. Now stand up. You're acting like a three year old."

Selphie slowly made her way to her feet, wincing as she put weight on the hurt knee, but it quickly subsided and she was standing firmly on both feet in front of her friend. "Thanks," she said timidly.

Kairi shrugged and looked down at Selphie's feet. They were in her new roller blades that her mother had given her for her birthday a month ago. Kairi had always liked those particular skates, but Selphie had never worn them. This had been her first time, and by the way that Selphie was glaring down at them, Kairi had a feeling that it would be the last.

"Do you think you can make it to Zell's house?" Kairi asked.

Selphie sniffed once and nodded. "I think I'll be okay. Just a bruise."

"Good. Let's go. I want to be there when your dad gives them their little present."

Kairi helped Selphie down the street toward the Dinchts', making sure that she didn't drop her own little wrapped gift. Selphie had helped Kairi save up the money for this little present ever since Mr. Dincht had passed on, and they hoped that Zell would like it. The community had gotten together and donated a lot of money for a consolation gift for Ma Dincht, and it would be presented by Selphie's father in the name of the entire island. It was a real testament to how close the families were. Even Jecht had pitched in. None of the younger generation had been told what the community had bought for the Dinchts, not wanting to take the risk of spoiling the surprise.

Kairi, however, was slightly miffed by this decision by their parents. "I'm not a kid anymore," she had said, fuming. "They should be able to trust me." Selphie had agreed completely, secretly sharing the same feelings about herself and every one of the kids around the island. Kairi tended to get a little self-absorbed when she got riled up.

By now, Kairi had totally forgotten about that, however, having devised the plan to get a gift for the Dinchts on their own. The smile on her face as she spotted Zell on his front lawn proved that fact to Selphie.

The girls made their way to Zell's mailbox and began to panic. He wasn't supposed to see the gift yet! Zell had heard his name called by his mother behind him, so had turned away from the girls to shout something to her.

"Here, quick!" Selphie cried. Kairi shoved the gift at her friend, who hastily placed it inside the Dinchts' mailbox. She had barely closed the mailbox by the time Zell found his eyes on his friends again.

"Hey, guys, what brings you two here?" Zell asked. He met them halfway down the driveway, his eyes bright and lively.

"Just, uh, decided to come by and see if things are going okay," Kairi said, her cheeks burning. That had been close!

Zell shrugged, but the smile on his face didn't fade. "Things are pretty good, actually."

"Great," Selphie squeaked with a laugh.

"Ma told me that we're expecting company today, though," Zell said, folding his hands behind his head and tapping one foot on the ground. "I wonder what's going on. She won't tell me anything."

Selphie raised an eyebrow and looked over at Kairi. They didn't know anything about that. All they'd heard was about the present. Was there something planned other than that?

"Any idea what's going on?" Zell asked.

Kairi shook her head, an honest response. Neither of them had a clue.

"Oh well," Zell said with a shrug. He let his hands drop to his sides. "I'm gonna head back inside. You guys wanna come in?" he asked.

"Sure," Selphie said with a grin. Zell nodded with a smile and headed towards the front porch. Selphie motioned toward the mailbox, and Kairi headed back towards it to retrieve their present.

In a few minutes, their present was hidden underneath a blanket strewn about on the living room floor inside the Dinchts' house as the girls made themselves comfortable on the couch. Ma was, of course, in the kitchen, as always. That woman always seemed to be cooking something. Zell had vanished down the hall, presumably in his bedroom for one reason or another. That didn't last, however, as the blonde soon joined the girls in the living room.

"So why did you guys really come over?" Zell asked, suspicion dripping from his voice and his narrowed eyes.

"Well," Selphie said, embarrassedly kicking the package underneath the blanket. Zell's eyes noticed this, and an eyebrow raised into the air.

"Okay, what's that?" he asked, pointing.

Kairi uncovered the present and handed it to their friend. He looked at it, confused, its blue wrapping and pink ribbon neatly wrapped, like a professional had done it. "Selphie and I got together and got you this," Kairi said.

Zell just stared for a few moments at the gift before he tore it open without prejudice. A ripped box later, the martial artist was staring with a huge grin on his face at a beautiful pair of blue leather gloves. They were truly beautiful: fingerless, hidden seams, an opening on the back to allow ventilation, and steel studs as decorations along the sides. The knuckles were also covered in these studs, offering a painful-looking bridge of metal across the top of the gloves.

"They're awesome, you guys!" Zell cried. He leapt up and gave both of the girls a hug at once. Soon they were all laughing and pushing each other around on the couch when Ma Dincht appeared from the kitchen in her oven mitts.

"Glad to see you're feeling better, dear," Ma Dincht said kindly.

"Aw, Ma, I'm fine," Zell said with a diminished laugh.

"Was something the matter before?" Selphie asked.

"Zell's been depressed ever since the barbeque," Ma replied.

"Any particular reason?" Kairi asked Zell with an honest look in her eyes.

Zell tugged at the hem of his vest nervously. He didn't say anything at first, then finally, "Eh, not really."

Selphie gave Kairi a suspicious look, which her friend returned. Neither of them believed the blonde, but neither said anything. It was best not to bring up bad memories.

"Why don't you kids go to the mall?" Ma asked politely. "I'm sure that seeing people may help Zelly with his bad mood."

"I'm fine, Ma, I told ya!" Zell protested, but Ma held up her hand and had a "don't question my authority" look on her face. Zell sighed and his shoulders slumped. "Fine."

Selphie's eyes sparkled as an idea flashed through her mind. "Sure thing, Ma, we'll take good care of 'Zelly.'" She snickered at Zell's glare.

"I guess we'll be heading out then," Kairi said, standing to her feet. "You driving, Zell?"

Zell shrugged helplessly, which the girls took as a yes. They yanked him to his feet and the three of them headed out the front door with a hearty "goodbye" to Ma Dincht. Once they were outside, Zell gave them both glares.

"What the hell, man?" he burst.

"Don't worry about it," Selphie said with a giggle. "What is on the way to the mall?"

"The dock," Kairi said, not realizing what Selphie was up to. Then it dawned on her and she grinned. "And where there's a dock," she began.

"There are boats!" Selphie said with a leap into the air. She was grinning from ear to ear. "The island will do you some good, Zell. Just leave it to us! We'll cheer you up!"

Zell sighed and shook his head. He kept telling them that he felt fine, but they wouldn't believe him! It was really frustrating.

Zell drove the three of them down to the dock, where they boarded their little boats and paddled over to the island, just like usual. As they stepped out onto the wooden dock along the beach of the island, Selphie stretched and gave an oversized yawn.

"It's been a while," Selphie said while finishing her yawn.

"Yeah, we haven't been here in about a week or so," Kairi said thoughtfully. "We're normally out here every other day or so." She looked over at Selphie, who was already crouched on the beach, poking the shell of a hermit crab. "Withdrawals?"

Selphie giggled, not looking at Kairi, continuing to poke the shell.

"Come with me," Kairi said to Zell, grabbing his hand. "I want to show you something I doubt you've seen."

"Okay?" Zell was confused. Why were they being like this? It was like they saw him as this blue, depressed blob that must be helped. He felt fine – why couldn't they just let him alone?

Kairi led Zell by the hand around to the other side of the island, where the obstacle course used to stand. The zip line was gone, however, replaced by a Han glider post that the kids used to use when they were about fifteen. It hadn't been used in a while, though, as was evident by the wood rot at the top of the post. If it was being used by anyone, the kids would have kept it in good condition. Instead, its neglect was evident, and becoming worse every week.

Kairi tugged Zell over to the beach, near the grove of coconut trees, where the only well-kept remainder of their childhood sat beached silently on the sand: the raft. That raft had been Riku's dream vessel, but the day had never come for the children to use it. It was going to be Kairi, Sora, and Riku, just the three of them, out in the farthest reaches of the ocean. Riku had hoped that they would reach other worlds, other lands, but Kairi knew full well that they would never leave the island. Sora, on the other hand, had strange dreams, involving a massive key that he swung like a sword. Kairi, too, had strange dreams, but they seemed like they were supposed to belong to Sora. She dreamt that she was Sora, fighting strange creatures. Riku, however, did not dream at all about such things; he merely dreamed about leaving the island and finding new lands.

Unfortunately, and like Kairi had anticipated, the raft had sat on the beach after completion, and very soon became neglected by both of the boys. Kairi didn't want their childhood dreams to fade, however, so she had Riku and Wakka drag the boat onto the beach and she continued to take care of it, even to this day. Selphie would help her from time to time, knowing how important it was to her, but Kairi did most of the maintenance on the raft herself.

"What do you think?" Kairi asked Zell after explaining what the strange raft on the beach was.

"It's awesome," Zell replied with a smile. It was a strained, forced smile. His eyes were sad. It was always depressing to hear that children's dreams didn't become reality. He looked over at Kairi and asked, "Do you think there really were other worlds out there?"

Kairi looked up at the bright blue sky and sighed. "I don't know. Those dreams were so weird. So lifelike. It's hard to believe that these little islands are all that is out there. Who knows?" She looked back down at the embodiment of her childhood dreams. "I sure don't. And won't, probably."

Zell rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. It was always a bad thing to bring up bad memories.

"But that's okay," Kairi said cheerfully. "I like it here. Although, I don't know where I came from. I don't remember. I'm not originally from Destiny Island, you know."

"You're not?" Zell asked, surprised. "When did you move here?"

"Back when I was five or so. I do remember that we traveled a lot before we found this place, though," Kairi replied thoughtfully. "I do remember my grandma, though, underneath a big staircase next to beautiful stain glass. I just don't remember anything else."

Zell leaned back and let himself fall onto the soft, warm sand. He lay there for a moment, sighed, and said, "I'm not from Destiny Island, either. I'm from a place called Balamb. It's way the hell out to sea from here."

"Is it still part of this world?" Kairi asked, suddenly interested. Zell had never mentioned his hometown before.

"Kind of? I mean, I don't know for sure." Zell's voice was uncertain, as if he was sharing information that he shouldn't have been. "It's a port town, like Destiny Island, but there's more than just an island – it's on the edge of a rather large continent called Balamb, named after the city. It's the continent's only real town." Zell paused for a moment in consideration. Then he continued, "I guess it was kind of barren, come to think of it."

"Were there many people there?" Kairi asked, sitting down next to the blonde.

"Not really," Zell said with a shrug. He brought his hands up and placed them behind his head and crossed his ankles, truly relaxing on the sand. The sun was behind them, enabling him to stare clearly into the sky without worrying about hurting his eyes. "There was one person I really miss from there, though."

"Who was it?"

"Well, two people, actually. One was a real asshole. He called me Chickenwuss and picked on me every chance he got. The other was his exact opposite. He was quiet and caring. He was my last boyfriend."

"What was his name?" Kairi asked quietly, looking down at Zell's face, which was so vacantly staring into the blue oblivion overhead.

"His name was Squall. He wasn't from Balamb, originally, but he moved there a few years ago. He changed his name to Leon, then left not quite a month before I did. I miss him a lot," Zell said with a sigh.

"Sorry," Kairi said, looking out to sea. "It's not my business."

"Don't worry," Zell said with a chuckle. He sat up and shook the sand out of his hair. "We knew that it wouldn't work out, especially with Seifer around."

"Who?"

"Seifer. The other guy I told you about. He and Squall were more of an item than Squall and me were. Weird thing is, though, was that no matter how much he made fun of me, Seifer was the hottest piece of ass in town. He knew it, too. We, uh, had a few experiments before Squall moved to Balamb." His cheeks blushed and Kairi stifled a giggle.

The two of them sat there after that in total silence, just staring out at the edge of the world, as far as they could see, taking in the sunlight. They were two of a kind: left on a friendly island with no way to go home. Kairi didn't even remember her home, and Zell knew that there was nothing for him there. They both sighed at the same time with these realizations, stopped, looked at each other, and began to laugh. It felt good to laugh like that, Zell realized, especially after all the stuff that he'd been through the past few weeks.

"So," Kairi said after they finished their gigglefest, "what's going on with you and Wakka?"

Zell's smile evaporated. "Nothing," he said almost gutturally. The abruptness of the answer surprised Kairi, but he shook his head. After a moment, he said, "Sorry. It's a touchy subject."

"Have you talked to him since that time?" Kairi asked.

Zell shook his head. "I've told myself that I couldn't be with him after what I did to his relationship with Tidus."

Kairi fell backwards onto the beach and sighed. "You wanna know what I think? I think that you guys are taking this way too seriously."

"You may not think that after a few days," Zell muttered.

"What?" Kairi asked, turning her ear out of the sand to hear the blonde better.

"Nothing," Zell said quickly. "Just muttering to myself. Maybe I should talk to Wakka. Would that make you feel better?"

Kairi sat up and brushed the backside of her head and batted the sand out of her ear. "The question is, Zell, would it make you feel better?"

Zell considered that for a moment. Kairi continued to get sand off and out of her head as he thought. Finally, his answer came:

"Actually, I think it would."

"Good," Kairi said, standing up and brushing off her skirt. "Let's go. It's starting to get late."

Zell nodded his agreement. Kairi offered her hand to help him stand up, which he graciously took. Pulling him to his feet, Kairi grinned as he cried out. His entire backside was plastered with sand. It accented his butt very nicely, Kairi had said, but Zell hadn't found the comment very funny.

The two of them headed around the island and found Selphie, who was busy poking a jellyfish who had washed on shore with a stick. Kairi scolded her for torturing the poor creature, and proceeded to take the stick and throw the thing back into the ocean.

The three of them headed back to the dock, where they encountered Riku and Sora heading for the island. Kairi gave them both hugs and told them to be careful, fully aware that they wouldn't understand what she meant. She had said it with several meanings in mind. She was laughing as the two of them pulled out of the dock and headed for the island. Zell and Selphie, confused, herded the hysterical Kairi into Zell's car and they headed out, back to Zell's house.

-

Chappu finished his chores by noon that same day, wanting to head out and get some things done around town. By the time he was finished with everything he wanted to do, he felt the stress of doing things you didn't want to do. With a stretch, his headed down to the docks and found himself heading out to the island. A short boat ride later, the young redhead was burying himself in the warm sand on the island's deserted beaches.

After a few minutes of sitting there, his legs immersed in soft sand, Chappu thought he heard footsteps behind him. He turned at the waist, trying not to mess up his artistically hidden legs, and saw a young blonde man with no shirt and sopping wet swimming trunks walking up the beach towards him.

"Did you swim here or what?" Chappu asked Tidus as he approached the submerged redhead.

"Nah, but I did take a lap around the island after I got here," Tidus said with a grin. "I parked the boat on the other side of the island."

So that was why Chappu hadn't seen Tidus' boat. Made sense. "So you just came out here for a quick swim or somethin'?" Chappu asked, his legs still hidden.

"Matter of fact, yeah," Tidus said with a laugh. "The water's pretty warm today. It was nice." He plucked at his soaked swimming trunks and Chappu noticed how tightly they were clinging to his front. The redhead felt his face grow hot and felt some of the sand down south become tighter around his hidden body.

Chappu averted his eyes and traced a circle in the sand with his right index finger. "You always were a pretty good swimmer," he said lamely. Despite the fact that he wasn't even looking at Tidus, the image of Tidus' trunks was ingrained into the redhead's mind. His face grew even redder.

Tidus bent down next to Chappu and laughed. "Better than you, maybe. Your brother's always been a faster swimmer than me." He put a wet hand on Chappu's shoulder and small beads of air-cooled ocean water fell down the redhead's back, sending chills up and down his spine. "So, uh, why the high-riser?" Tidus asked playfully.

Confused, Chappu looked up at Tidus, who was grinning as if he was witnessing the funniest thing ever, and Chappu followed his gaze, immediately blushing. His manhood was tenting out, broken free of the sand prison, so that it was the only thing visible on the beach. It would have been pretty funny to Chappu, if it wasn't happening to him. The redhead bent forward and crossed his legs, destroying the sand trap encasing his lower body. His face was redder than his hair.

Tidus laughed out loud and patted Chappu on the shoulder. "Dude, that's fine, I don't care."

"But I do," Chappu replied fiercely, anger taking over embarrassment.

Tidus just laughed again. Chappu's mind was reeling, but he was fuming at the same time. How could he laugh like that!

Chappu rose to his feet, his erection subsided out of anger, and looked over at Tidus, who was still chuckling. "It's not funny!" Chappu cried.

"Yeah, I know it's embarrassing," Tidus said, wiping his eyes with the backside of one of his hands. "But you have to admit, Chappu, it was pretty funny." He stood up himself and Chappu saw that Tidus was tenting. The whole situation must have aroused him.

"Look who the big man is now," Chappu said with a grin.

Tidus laughed. "Yeah, but the difference is that I don't care. In fact," he said, stepping in close to Chappu, "I kinda like it like this." Chappu could feel Tidus' tent against his leg, and that sent a jolt down to his own equipment. Within seconds, both men were standing chest-to-chest with raging hard-ons.

Chappu could have swallowed his tongue. Tidus was…no way! Chappu looked down just for verification, which only proved his disbelief to be false: both men were, indeed, completely rigid, their erections rubbing against each other and sending waves of sensual energy through both their bodies. Chappu's face began as beet red, but the embarrassment subsided and the cold sweat emerged as Tidus took Chappu's head, turned his face towards his own, and leaned in.

Don't panic! was all that Chappu could think as Tidus' lips brushed his own. They were so strong, but soft, like angel feathers. Unbreakable, but divine in their sensitive touch. Chappu felt his mouth opening on its own, his subconscious beginning to take over. Tidus' tongue slipped into Chappu's mouth and tickled the roof of the redhead's palette. This sent tingles up Chappu's face and around to the base of his neck. He'd never felt anything like that before!

Chappu began to fight back. His tongue pushed against Tidus' until the two were wrestling for space. Just then, Chappu felt a hand grab his round ass and squeeze tightly, but not tight enough to hurt. It felt really good. Another wandering hand had found the back of Chappu's head and was running its fingers through his bright orange hair. Chappu's hands, on the other hand, were roaming as well, feeling every curve and muscular bulge on Tidus' well-defined body. The redhead felt his hand brush Tidus' ass and he hesitated. High, round, tight…Tidus had the perfect butt. Chappu stroked it with one finger up and down one side and he felt Tidus react through a quiver in his tongue.

The two continued their embrace for what seemed to Chappu like forever. Before long they had fallen into the soft sand, Chappu on his back with Tidus breathing his hot breath all over the redhead's neck. Chappu moaned as Tidus licked his neck up and down, the redhead's hands still rummaging the blonde's backside.

Tidus on the other hand, was noticing things he definitely liked as he caressed the redhead's body. Wakka was built like a god, but Chappu carried the heavy artillery in the family. Tidus pulled away from Chappu and smiled down at him. "You're my kind of man."

Chappu gazed up at the blue oceans swimming just inches above his face. Tidus' eyes were dazzling, and his smile was perfect. Chappu had never met a more beautiful man in his life. But Tidus' comment had struck a chord with the redhead. "What do you mean?" he asked.

The answer came in a tight grip on Chappu's manhood, issuing a slight gasp to escape his lips. Tidus grinned down at him. "That's what I mean."

Tidus' face disappeared from Chappu's sight. Curious, the redhead lifted his head to look down his frame. Tidus was at his waist, sliding his fingers into the lining of his swimsuit. Within seconds, Chappu's only clothing was flying through the air and landing elsewhere on the beach. With hard-on stiff in the wind, Chappu felt totally, completely free.

"Don't tell anyone I said this," Tidus said slyly, "but you're bigger than your brother."

Chappu felt a flood of laughter coming on. Finally, something he could gloat to his brother about! He would have dwelled on this thought longer, but an amazing sensation overwhelmed his entire being, interrupting his train of thought.

Tidus moved his head up and down on Chappu's member, slowly at first, his tongue wrapping its way halfway around its girth, sliding it along Chappu's length as his head moved. The heat and moisture of Tidus' mouth was enough to drive Chappu crazy, let alone the tingling that his tongue and lips were sending through the redhead's entire being.

"Tidus…What…Ohhh…" Chappu seemed completely unable to complete a single coherent thought as long as Tidus was working his magic.

Tidus didn't seem to care.

The rhythm picked up the pace – Tidus was moving faster, his tongue turning to lashing the ridge underneath the head. This sent sharp spikes of ecstasy through Chappu and he felt something deep inside him begin to work. He knew what was going to happen next.

Tidus continued to move at a quickening pace. He felt Chappu's manhood expand even further as blood continued to fill its already engorged muscle. Tidus chuckled inside his own head and withdrew completely, an exaggerated popping noise marking the total release of Chappu.

"N-No, Tidus…" Chappu groaned. He started whimpering. Tidus had almost let him go, backing away at just the right moment. The blood was stuck – Chappu's member was as ready as it was going to get. All it needed…

Chappu's hand moved towards his abdomen, but Tidus' strong grip stopped it. "No you don't," Tidus scolded playfully. "That's my job, remember?"

Tidus leaned forward and gave the raging member in front of him a gentle kiss on its tip. Chappu moaned even louder as Tidus' tongue began to tickle the head, tracing a circle around its tip and running along its length. Finally he took Chappu into his mouth, tracing its veings with his tongue.

Tidus was surprised that Chappu was so easily aroused. With gear as large as his, Tidus had expected Chappu to take some doing to get him ready. Evidently he had been mistaken.

Chappu felt the strange sensation from within his body again. His legs started quivering involuntarily and his chest tightened. His upper body rose off the sand against his will as Tidus relentlessly went up and down on his member. Not once did the blonde get more than half of Chappu's length into his mouth, but the half that had been engulfed had never experienced anything like it was now. Chappu felt every muscle in his body tighten. His member stood as rigid as it could. Sensation flooded his system. He felt the adrenaline flood him, starting in his head. His entire body was enraptured. He wished it would never end.

Tidus felt the pulsing begin and pulled back. He moved out of the way to see Chappu shoot high into the air. With a grin, Tidus watched Chappu release again and again, unaided. And that's how you do it, Tidus told himself with a smile.

That night, Tidus arrived at Chappu's house. Despite his apprehension of seeing Wakka, the blonde knew that he wouldn't be able to get over the breakup if he didn't move on. And this time, moving on meant moving on to bigger and better things.

Tidus could do nothing but smile.

-

Again, I apologize for my sporadic updating schedules. I hate having something interrupted, and it's hard to get back on the wagon to finish it sometimes.

Whee! RnR:D