A/N: I made it to Chapter four! Go me! Awesome! Though, really thinking out the plot for this story and the way everything is going now… I'm thinking this will only be a 15 chapter story, tops. There aren't too many twists and turns that I plan on taking. ;) Anyway, towards the end of this chapter, I started listening to Killing Lights by AFI. Really good song. Not sure if it fits the end of the chapter, but I like it, damnit. :D Anyway, as always, please review and enjoy!

"Kairi, wake up," Zidane whispered into my ear and I jumped in surprise. I put some distance between me and him, while he just stood there laughing. I frowned and wiped the sweat from my brow.

"That wasn't nice, Zidane," I commented, annoyed. I ran a hand through my hair and then crossed my arms and tapped my foot. "What'd you do that for, anyway?"

"Well, I've been asking for a hammer for about ten minutes while you were off in la-la land," he said and shook his head while grinning. Then he reached down and grabbed the hammer from the tool box.

"Oh… Well why didn't you say so?" I asked before I could stop myself. He burst out laughing and I covered my eyes with my hand. "Stop."

Over the course of the week, I did manage to get my research done. I had to make sure that Sora and Riku were gone to do so, but I did. It had been a lonely week. Right then, the frame for the trebuchet was almost completed. Zidane was making finishing touches. Then we, and by 'we' I mean 'he', would work on the arm and counter weight. The sling I had made myself.

I had to do something or else I was going to feel terrible. As it was, I felt rather guilty that he was covered in dirt and sweat, while I was only starting to feel damp. He went back to hammering diligently at the base and I sighed.

"So, what's been bugging you, Kairi?" he asked. I looked at him and noticed that he wasn't looking at me.

"Oh, I don't know, Zidane. I guess…," I trailed off, not sure how to phrase the thoughts that had been plaguing me then. Actually, they weren't really a plague but more like a fantasy that had only become more intense.

He stopped hammering and looked up at me. I smiled and shrugged at his quizzical look. It was hot and sweat was dripping down his face, which he hastily wiped off with his hand. I could feel the light prickles on my back.

"Anyway, I think we're about done. I'm thinking a break would be pretty good," he said as he stood up with a long, languid stretch. I nodded. Of course a break sounded good. It probably would have sounded better to me if I had done any real work.

Between spacing out, I was always thinking of the ever looming due date for the stupid weapon. As Zidane moved under the shade of a near-by tree, I went to the long piece of wood and dragged it to the center of the clearing, where all the cutting tools were. He watched me with raised eyebrows and slack shoulders.

With a yawn he came towards me. "So much for a break…"

"Zidane!" I chided. "I was just getting ready. Go sit down or get some water or something, alright?"

"It won't be any fun if I sit there by myself," he replied with a sly grin. I blushed and dropped the wood with a plop.

"Fine," I muttered and followed him to the shade. The cool air was nice and with the sun not beating on my face anymore, I could tell I was getting a sunburn. I smiled to myself. Of course it would make sense that I would get a sunburn when I hadn't been at the beach. How long had we been out there?

"So, what's bothering you?" He asked as soon as I had sat down. He tugged on his shirt before he plopped down next to me. His face was undeniably red, too.

"Oh, well, just friend issues," I said with an airy wave of my hand. I looked away from him and at the empty-looking frame.

"Huh. Well, anyway, for counterweight we'll use sand. There's lots of it around, and that'll probably be better than using rocks."

"Uh-huh," I said softly as I pulled my knees to my chest. I remembered Sora sleeping so peacefully. No matter how misguided I was, I was thinking about how he had been so completely mine. I wanted to feel like that again, but I couldn't look at him for more than a second before I looked away.

He hadn't looked at me, either. I think Riku had made some sarcastic remark about it. Something about how he suddenly felt like the center of attention. I guess we both looked at him because we didn't want to look at each other.

Well, I wanted to look at Sora, I just couldn't. I pursed my lips as the same image I had been seeing more and more of popped into my head. I was glad I was red. Zidane couldn't possibly see my blush. Thinking about Sora brought up lots of inappropriate scenes in my imagination.

Zidane was looking at me strangely, I noticed finally. "Huh?" I asked and let go of my knees. He wagged his finger with a shake of his head.

"Come on now, Kairi. You're the one who's supposed to be all business and no play, not me!"

"Huh?" I asked again with my mouth wide open. I was still caught between imagination and reality. "Oh! Sand is good, we can use that. Is the break over already?"

He laughed at me. I've done stupid things, but I haven't ever really acted like such an airhead. I was starting to feel like Selphie. "Zidane, stop," I pleaded. "I've just been having problems with Sora and it's been bugging me."

He smirked and held out a hand to me. I took his hand gratefully. "Then maybe you should work on solving them instead of thinking about it," he said with a mischievous air as he turned towards the wood. "We're going to need to something to prop this up so I can cut it."

"How do you know I can solve these problems?" I asked as I grabbed one of the concrete blocks and lifted it with a heavy grunt.

"Well, problems generally have solutions, Kairi," came his bemused reply. I set the block down and went to grab the other one.

"Well, this one doesn't feel like it has a solution that won't completely wreck all my friendships," I replied in frustration. Zidane didn't answer and I set the block down next to the other one. He arranged them and propped the wood on them and grabbed the saw.

As the saw hummed and cut into the wood, I waited patiently. He cut the hole so he could attach the arm to the frame and I was still waiting, with my knees awkwardly together and my hands behind my back.

He attached the sling and cut another hole for the counterweight. I was still standing behind him, my hands at my side and rocking back and forth on the heels of my feet. He glanced back at me with a smirk as he laid the last nail into the frame.

The trebuchet was complete except for the counterweight.

He stood up and wiped his hands on his jeans. "Maybe, Kairi, you should rethink what you really want."

"But what if I want the best of both worlds?" I asked as I wrung my hands nervously. He shook his head and rolled his eyes at me.

"Women," he muttered in frustration. I pushed his arm lightly and laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I turned my gaze over the wood. Reaching down, I grabbed the left over pieces of string. He hadn't used the full length of my sling.

"It means that women are frustrating, to say the least."

"What makes you think you know anything about girls, hmm?" I placed my hands on my hips and quirked an eyebrow. "Just because you can flirt with us, that doesn't make you an expert!"

"I know a little from here and there. After all, do you think you're the first person to ask my opinion about something?" I frowned at him and folded my arms. "Well, you're not," he insisted.

"Well, never mind that. When do you want to meet about the counterweight? We've only got a few days left," I reminded him.

He tapped his finger to his chin and looked towards the sky, which was now purple and growing darker by the second. "Day after tomorrow."

We parted minutes later, and my first thought was to run to the beach in hopes that Riku and Sora would both be waiting on me. I was glad when I saw that they had. They were both soaking wet and covered in dirt and sand. They waved at me from the water, or Riku did. Sora was too busy laughing about something else to notice me.

I walked to the edge of the waves where Riku greeted me. "How'd the project go? Looks like you didn't do a bit of work," he laughed.

"I did too." I smiled and winked at him. "I carried heavy concrete blocks and pieces of wood three times my size."

"Yeah right, Kairi," Sora said warmly as he joined us. "So, coming in? Water's not bad."

"Yeah right! And get dirty like you and Riku? No way." I waved my hand at them as I turned to walk away, but Sora grabbed it and held me there. Riku grabbed me around my waist and carried me, kicking and screaming, to the water. He let me go when the water was to both of our waists.

I pouted and splashed him. Sora snuck around behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist before he ducked under the water and dragged me with him. When we reemerged, Riku laughed at me and plucked a piece of seaweed out of my hair. "I think you're worse than us, Kairi," he commented sagely.

I splashed him again, and I turned to face Sora, whose arms were still around me and placed my hands on his shoulders. I attempted to simply push him down in the water. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But then I noticed how close we were, and those same thoughts from before ruined the fun we had just been having.

I pulled away from him and began trudging towards the dry sand. "Come on, guys," I shouted back to them. "Let's build a sand castle."

I did want Sora. I wanted him to be all mine, but I couldn't ignore Riku. I knew he was pretending to not have noticed anything amiss. I didn't want to pick favorites with my best friends. But, hadn't it always been that way? Hadn't I always showed just a little more enthusiasm for Sora?

I couldn't leave Riku behind. Not again.