A/N: Forgive me for the terrible summary. I haven't quite figured out the art of summarizing. Give me time. -.-
Well, I hope you enjoy the story. I must ask that you don't flame. Construtive critism is welcomed though.
Chapter One
"Sora"
Without any warning, he was pulled out of his dreams. Something involving a boy with red hair. Who was he? Where had he seen him? The details trickled out of his mind as fast as they had come, along with the desperate feeling the dream had left him with. He knew that if he tried, he would remember who he was, and why his face had reappeared in his dreams. That would come later though. He had to focus on the present. Maybe, if he were lucky, he could drift back to sleep and ignore whoever had woken him.
Unfortunately, all his senses had also been woken up. He could smell the salty sea air. Feel the grains of sand on his bare back. There were other sounds near him as well. His own faint breathing, the breathing of the one who woke him, a calming rocking motion of the ocean, birds. Was he on a beach?
Yes. He was sure of it. If he opened his eyes, he would see the picture that his senses and memory had formed in his mind for real. This wasn't a dream world. It was reality.
A reality he wasn't going to go back to either. Not right now. Not if someone was trying to wake him.
It could be important, he reasoned, his eyes still closed.
Fatigue called to him. All he wanted was even 10 more minutes of sleep. Was that so much to ask? He just wanted to sleep, the warmth of the sun wrapping around him like a blanket.
Which reminded him, was he going to get a sunburn if he kept laying here?
"Sora"
Stubbornly, he kept both eyes firmly closed, his breath even and shallow. Asleep. Exactly what he would still be doing if someone wasn't trying to wake him. Whoever is was could come back later.
Dimly, using sleepy logical he tried to pin point the voice. His name had been whispered in his right ear. It had a silky, loving edge to is. He's heard it a million times before. He knew he had. He also knew he was going to look like an idiot when he remembered.
"Wake up! You're going to get burned if you stay out here"
A heavy sigh. Sand crunched by his ear. Someone was standing up.
"I'm only doing this because I love you. Remember that."
Footsteps stepping away. Silence.
Sora opened one eye, yawning a little as he did so. A little ways ahead of him he could see a slim, built figure with a head up shaggy white hair. He needed a little bit of a haircut. All the same however, even from this distance he could tell he was good looking. Very good looking.
'Ah', Sora thought sheepishly,' Riku'. Who else would have such a nice rear view?
A small, guilty smile slipped across his face at that though. . He snapped his eye shut as Riku turned around and began to walk back toward Sora, holding his hands behind him, as if to shelter something from his view.
"Okay. So I lied. I'm doing this because I know you're awake. You can't fool me."
Sora gasped, his voice reaching a new octave as a bucket of freezing cold ocean water hit his naked back. He bolted upright, the muscles of his torso tightening from the sudden temperature change. A second later, a wave of relief hit him as the water began to soothe the beginnings of his sunburn.
"Riku! You... Couldn't you wake me up like a normal person?"
Grinning, Riku offered his had to the sandy haired boy, helping his up. The second he was able to balance, he tackled him with a hug, throwing them both to the ground. Pinning Sora to the sand, Riku smirked attractively.
Sora's cheeks burned crimson as the taller boys shirt brushed his bare skin. Why did he have to be so attractive? Why? His lips screamed 'kiss me!', but it was one call Sora couldn't answer. You just don't kiss your best friend. Especially when he was a guy. It just didn't happen.
"Get off me" Sora acted offended to hide his thoughts, painfully aware that one would have to be blind not to notice the blush on his cheeks. "You're blocking the view."
Riku considered this for a second, then he spoke softly, almost purring.
"But you almost look half decent from this angle. You wouldn't want to ruin my view, would you?"
Sora squinted up at him in disbelief. He was flirting. With him! In all honesty, a small part of him had always wanted to believe that Riku returned the feeling. Maybe it wasn't just the result of an over-active imagination. After all, this wasn't the first occasion Riku had openly told him he enjoyed his looks. Even if it was in his signature sarcastic manner. It didn't matter what Riku said. You could always tell how he was really feeling from the look in his eyes.
And Sora couldn't deny he liked that look in his eyes right now.
Time to do something, time to make a move. Should he kiss him? Right here on this beach, with the Destiny Island as their only witness? That would be romantic... memorable. Just like his dreams. It would be the kind of moment that suck in his memory no matter how old and senile he got.
No. He shouldn't. He really shouldn't. After all, his feeling were probably just respect for his friend. He had always viewed him as the stronger, more stable of the duo. Yeah, it was just respect. Friendly love.
Still... his lips were inviting.
To late.
Riku sighed and rolled off, pulling himself into a cross-legged sitting position. The bright daffodil sun shining directly at his back, cause his tanned face to be thrown into shadow.
"Well? Are you just going to lay there and go back to sleep?"
'What do you think?" Sora asked, " You're the one who threw a bucket of water, which was freezing, I might add, at me. Do you really think I would go back to sleep after you so obviously put in all that effort just to see me awake?"
Still yawning slightly, Sora sat up as well, stretching his legs out lazily. Without realising it, he tried to sit as close as humanly possible without actually touching the other boy. Better to be a tease. Or something like that.
"Actually, Kairi wanted me to get you. I would have totally forgotten about you, but she's scared you'll burn, or that you're hungry. Here, you have sand in your hair. Let me get it for you."
He leaned over, his right hand gently brushing that small grains of rock from Sora's hair. An instant later, Riku's lips were at his ear, forming whispered, challenging words. The soft breathing pattern of the words prickled his skin, sending pleasant shivers down Sora's spin. Riku's hand still lay in his hair, absently running his fingers through it. As though he had forgotten about it.
"Want to race? The score's 3-2 for me. Are you going to take that?"
Sora reached up, grabbing his hand, removing it from his hair reluctantly, holding it for an instant to long before releasing it.
"You're on, you pervert."
He jumped to his feet a second before Riku. Sand sprayed behind him as he got his footing, sprinting towards the surreal green trees in front of him. He was aware of Riku right behind him, gathering enough stamina to outrun him. Their strides were even as they came to the midway point of the beach. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Riku now, still straining, determined to beat him once more. It was truly amazing how even matched the two boys, although previously extremely different in ability and build, had become after returning to Destiny Island.
Predictably ,Riku, with the advantage of his lean, toned body, was still the faster of the two. A point he proved by gaining a step in front of his opponent. Then another. Then another. Several more as they rounded the corner, headed for the cabin just ahead. By this point his had gained almost a remarkable amount on Sora. It didn't look like this would be one of their usual neck-to-neck races. The winner, at this point, would be Riku by a landslide.
'Dammit, he'll win again!' Sora groaned inwardly. Just as quickly as that thought came, he became hypnotised by the swaying motion of Riku's long, silver hair. It was almost like it danced in time to his footsteps. The sun hit it in such a way that every strand seemed to come to life. It was truly, honestly, perfection. More beautiful then any painting.
To bad he was going to miss seeing it if he wanted to win. Which he did. This was a matter of pride, of bragging rights.
His legs pumping hard, sweat forming on his body, he thought. Not of the race at hand. He always had found it easier to run fast if he removed himself from the situation at hand. When he focused to much on winning, he always lost.
Shoving the race in to the back of his mind, his thoughts drifted back to the interrupted dream he had been having. Mentally, he took a check of what he remembered. A guy with red hair wearing a floor length black hooded coat.. He was leaning against a wall, his arms crossed. His lips were moving, as if he were forming the words "I would miss you". Obviously, he was talking to someone. But who? The only person he had seen was the tall fire-headed boy. It was as if it were a memory.
Could it be one of his memories?
No.
He recognised him. He knew he did. Knew he had seen the boy recently. It wasn't as if he was a made up character, a figment of his imagination. It just made no sense. The guy he was thinking of, the only one who resembled the one of his dreams was dead. The reality of is was that the only memory he had of him was him fading away, quite literally in every sense of the expression, after he had saved Sora's life.
And yet he kept dreaming of him doing other things. Laughing at a joke, smiling warmly, his eyes reflecting his emotions like a still pond. Activities that he could have easily done while he was still alive. There was something to these dreams, however. They weren't just pictures. They weren't just filmstrips of a movie, moving by without cause any emotion or feeling to be left behind. Every time he saw that same gentle face, there was something else there. An emotion so strong it threatened to engulf him even after the dream ended. It carried on in to the next dream, in to waking hours. A heavy feeling of sadness and confusion.
So, while it would make sense to be dreaming of someone who had sacrificed himself for him, why these particular dreams? Dreams that were always different from any side of this boy then he had ever seen. Why could he always only see him, and no one else? Why, when there was clearly always someone else with him? Why did he always want to cry when he thought of him? Even now, the wind blowing through his hair, his body exerting itself with the strain of running, a part of him wanted to crumple to the ground in tears.
It wasn't even over dramatic to state that. He knew if he mentioned it to Riku or Kairi, they would have a lot to say about it, that they would both have kind words, advice, and their own theories to his dreams. He wasn't dumb enough not to sense that they noticed he always looked a little lost since returning home. Kairi had pointed it out only the other day. Pointed out, with a worried tone, how his eyes always seemed far away, like he was focused on a distant horizon that only he could see.
The dreams were at the route of it. It didn't take a rocket scientist to grasp that. It was understandable that he might be a little upset over the experiences of his recent life. But... his dreams weren't about that. They were about him. Someone he had barely known, and yet, had recognised him even when they first met.
Sora drew level with Riku, slightly surprised as he came back to reality for a second. Riku mirrored his surprise, a shocked, playful grin reaching up to his eyes.
"Hey, nice. You might actually beat me this time!"
His silver hair, his beautiful silver hair, whipped across his face, messy and dishelved. He was still laughing. Expecting his best friend to have a witty retort.
Sora wasn't listening though. For in the same moment he pulled ahead of Riku, the realisation hit him.
These weren't just random dreams pulled out of nothing.
They were memories. They just didn't belong to him.
