/DISCLAIMER/
I don't own any of the following characters, locations, items, or any other Square Enix or Disney objects. These stories are based off ideas from the game and in my head.
Three things happened. One: Riku and Sora glanced behind them. Two: Riku fumbled over the edge of the palm tree and landed on the beach with a thud, sand confetti bursting into the air. Three: Sora tripped and landed in the water.
At first, it was quiet, save for the call of a lonely seagull on the other side of the island. The clear, crisp silence was broken when Sora whipped his head out of the water, from where he had rolled down into the deeper end of the ocean. The salty liquid dripped from the tips of his hair from where it lay flat on his head, and his clothes clung tightly to his body. He stumbled as he stood up, bending over, resting his hands on his knees, and spewing out water in his mouth. He saw something embedded in the sand, and he bent down to pick it up. He put it in his pocket before turning in the direction of the island. The first thing he saw was the girl from the cafe, Lireal, and Kairi standing in the small opening near the star shaped tree. The next thing he saw was Riku sprawled out on the sand. He could see Kairi and the girl angling their heads, trying to see where Riku was. Apparently, the trees were blocking their view. Lireal caught sight of Sora first, and she waved.
Sora waved back.
Kairi saw the older girl waving, and she looked up from her investigation and saw her friend. She waved as well, although she seemed to be almost...competing in this simple gesture. But Sora had stopped looking, he was slogging forward, his clothes weighing him down. He heard noises as the two girls made their way down from the landing, to the beach below.
The girls reached Riku at almost the same time as Sora. Lireal was already turning the silver haired boy over. Sora dropped to his knees at his friend's side, looking at him, breathing heavily as water trickled down his forehead.
Kairi reached out and brushed away a few locks of Riku's smooth, silky hair. It surprised her, for a moment, at what she saw. His eyes were closed, and his face looked blissfully peaceful. A feeling that she knew Riku had rarely had. The tips of his mouth were slightly upwards, as if a pleasant thought had just crossed his mind before he fell from the trees above. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw one of the two others stand up, but she was so intent on studying her friend's face, that she didn't know who it was.
She knew, a few minutes later, when Sora said softly, "I thought you weren't coming back till later." She heard him swallow breathlessly, before turning aside and spitting more of the salty substance out of his mouth. She looked at him, glaring for a second because he was thinking about her instead of Riku. He saw the look and understood it, smiling. He shrugged. "He'll be fine." But his voice wavered slightly on the last word. He looked away from the redhead, back down at his fallen friend. "He looks...peaceful."
So Sora had seen it too.
Lireal approached again, her hands cupped together. She bent down slowly, before suddenly tipping the contents of her cupped hands on Riku's face. The seawater splashed across his cheekbones, racing along his lips and the corners of his eyes. A single moment passed before he jerked, sitting upwards violently. His head hit Lireal's, and the latter party fell backwards. Riku, unconcerned for his own head even after smashing into the ground and then into another's skull, quickly leaned over.
"Are you okay?" he said, his words slurring as his vision, still slightly impaired from his fall, blurred.
She was holding her head, looking slightly annoyed. "Yeah, I'm fine. You?" Riku nodded, not trusting his words to come out clearly, afraid to make him sound likea foolish drunkard.
The four sat quietly for a few minutes, looking at each other. Riku was the first to speak (in his normal voice, by now), "What happened to you?" Riku's hands were out behind him as he leaned backwards on his palms, his legs stretched out in front of him.
Sora sat on his knees, hishead bent over slightly with the weight of the water. "I tripped," he said simply. Riku laughed as Sora started to wring out his hoodie.
Kairi glanced up from where she had been staring at the sand to look at Sora. A pang rushed through her, feeling guilty that she had not even recognized the fate of her other friend. "Are you okay?" Kairi said quickly, hoping that the words did not betray the worry that had flooded her.
He didn't even look at her. "I'm fine," he grunted.
Lireal reached over and brushed something out of Sora's hair. He looked at her with surprise on his face. Her face was expressionless. "You had seaweed in your hair," she said, holding up a string of the leafy green plant. He grinned. She winked at him.
Kairi felt a pang. But it was a different kind.
They were sitting in the watch tower as rain poured down on the island, smearing the perfect white sand and sending the lone seagull into a frenzy of worry. The rain had started off as a few simple drops, adding to the last drops of water that fell from Sora's face as he dried off. Then, it was a few trickles coming down along the trunks of the palm trees. And as if the heavens above had snapped their fingers, it was a sudden downpour. Knowing they didn't have enough time to make to make it to the shack on the other side without getting totally drenched, they raced over the uprise in the island and climbed up to the tower. They sat now, leaning against the two walls of the tower. It was larger than they had thought it to be, and they all could sit while comfortably. Sora sat across fromKairi, next to Lireal, and Riku next to Kairi, across from Lireal. Riku had one leg stretched out, as he restedhis arm on the other knee. Sora had both of hisknees up, his arms crossed and resting on thetablehis knees created. Lireal had her legs crossed out in front out her, and Kairi sat "criss cross apple sauce" style, as Riku said.
Somehow, the only two who had managed to get wet were the girls. Lireal had already peeled off the now soaked black hoodie she wore, folding it up and putting it at her side, feeling dry in a yellow t-shirt. Kairi, her hair hanging limply around her face, shivered as she looked out on the side of the tower where the ladder was, looking out at the ocean. They were all panting slightly, tired from the sudden exhaustion of sprinting to the tower.
Riku had his head tilted backwards against the wall, closing his eyes as he heard the rain stream down outside.
Lireal closed her eyes as well, but a sad smile was hinting about her mouth as a droplet ran down the side of her cheek, through the center of the tear drop tatoo. She felt it. And she didn't know if, perhaps, it was a lonely tear or simply the rain.
Sora looked up from where his head had been buried his arms to look at the girl across from him. He noticed how delicately her shoulders shook, and the determined look on her wet face as she tried to hide it. He pulled off his jacket, this motion causing all in the tower to look at him, for the tower was only so big. He pulled the remaining sleeve off shook it off of the few bits of rain that had hit him, and crawled forward, placing the jacket around the girl's shoulders. He sat back, his legs folding out again.
The shivering stopped almost immeadiately. She didn't trust her eyes, so she didn't look at the boy as she threaded her arms through the jacket, the warmth of it spreading throughout her body. She wrapped her arms around herself.
Still recovering from the run, the four sat in silence as the rain smacked against the roof of the tower.
