Hey all. I know I'm slacking on these updates (on everything) but I'm working on them. This chapter is a little shorter than I expected but that's how it goes sometimes. Hopefully it won't be too long till the next one.

Please review, it helps. Thanks for reading.


Beach-side Longing

There were no dreams that night. When Riku awoke, he could tell by how bright the room was that it was at least noon. Smiling, he languidly stretched in bed. This was the first night in far too many where he had not awakened for anything and the first morning in that many were he felt completely rested.

As he partially turned, Cloud quietly murmured, "Morning."

Cracking an eye open, Riku saw his lover was sitting up in bed with a paperback book before him. Apparently, he had been up for awhile now. "What time is it?"

"Um…" Cloud leaned over and checked his phone laying on the nightstand. "12:46."

Making a faint noise, Riku fully faced Cloud. The blond set his book to the side and shifted so that Riku could settle comfortably against him. "I think this is the latest I've slept in my entire life."

"Seriously?" The older man began toying with Riku's lengthy silver locks.

"Yeah. My parents kept me on a pretty set sleep schedule. Even on weekends I only got to sleep in for two hours."

"What about when you were sick?"

"I was an amazingly healthy child." Riku closed his eyes, enjoying the casual attention he was receiving. "Mom used to joke that I must have alien DNA in me because I never caught any of the colds or flues or whatever that went around."

"Well, you definitely missed out if you've never slept in simply because. It's easily one of the greatest things in life and I sorely miss it."

Riku chuckled. "Yeah, I'm thinking we need to do it more often."

"Good luck convincing Leon."

"Meh, we just need to find him a girlfriend."

They fell silent, Cloud continuing to play with Riku's hair. The teenager sighed in contentment, feeling the peace within and without of him. It had been so long since he had felt this good.

Several minutes passed before Cloud's stomach rumbled. The couple laughed softly but made no movement to change their current arrangement. Cloud's stomach was just going to have to wait until they were ready to feed it.

When it rumbled again, Riku reluctantly twisted away. "I guess we need to feed you."

"I don't really need food." Cloud protested, reaching out to keep Riku from leaving bed. "I can go three days without eating."

"That's not good for you, Mako or not." The younger male allowed himself to be pulled back against Cloud. "I can go long periods without eating, too, but Mom and Seiya got pissed if I did. I learned very fast to make sure I eat at least twice a day whether I want to or not."

"Tifa likes to threaten me with a Dolphin Kick to the stomach if she finds out I haven't been." Cloud wrapped his arms around Riku's waist. The teen was now laying half on top of him.

"Ouch." Riku lightly rested his chin on Cloud's chest. "You know, we could just order room service."

Blue eyes cast downward and there was a brief flash of uncertainty before a much more amorous look filled them. "Now there's an idea."

Riku stretched up and brought his face close to the older man's. "I thought you might like it. Don't have to get out of bed…"

"Definitely." Fingers began tracing up along Riku's spine.

Smiling, Riku pressed his lips to his lover's. He did not try to deepen it, keeping it simple but passionate, pouring as much love into as he could. All he wanted was this easy, casual time with the man he loved.

Riku's phone rang out the annoying ringtone Sora had chosen for himself on the phone of everyone he knew. Cloud, Leon, Cid and Tifa had all changed it the day after he left from his last visit but Riku had not been able to bring himself to. While he found it just as irritating as the others, Sora had picked it out and he would honor his best friend's choice.

Cloud winced a little at the noise and Riku reluctantly drew away. "I hate that damn song."

"I know you do." Riku left the bed and crossed the room to the desk where he had his phone charging. The tone had only played once which meant it was a text and not an actual call. Flipping the phone open, he read the message then relayed the information to Cloud. "Sora says to meet up with them in an hour."

The blond leaned forward and rolled his shoulders. "Did he say who all was going to be there?"

"Nope," replied Riku. Setting his phone back on the desk, he turned toward the bed. "So you have a choice: food or shower?"

Worrying his lower lip, Cloud slipped out of bed and walked in Riku's direction. There was no mistaking the lust in his eyes. "That's a tough one."

"I can make it easier for you." The younger male took the few steps necessary to meet his boyfriend halfway. He draped his arms over Cloud's shoulders and nuzzled into his neck. "The beach has this area with picnic tables and grills… We usually set up camp near them." Riku nibbled on Cloud's earlobe. "And Seiya never goes to the beach without stopping at the fish market first."

Cloud placed his hands low on the back of Riku's hips, pulling him closer. They were both still naked and as they pressed together, a shot of arousal went through him. Riku shuddered slightly and they both were getting hard. "I liked her food."

"Mm hmm." Riku muttered, fingers toying with the short spikes of hair on the back of Cloud's head.

Blue eyes became slightly hazy. "How long do we have?"

Grinning, Riku walked backwards toward the bathroom, Cloud matching his steps. Cloud's hands did not move from their position nor did Riku's. They stumbled once in the doorway but did not separate.

Inside the small room, Riku pressed Cloud against the counter. He brought his lips to his lover's, sliding his hands down the man's neck. Bodies together, he rolled his hips lightly into Cloud's, smiling at the moan he caused.

Abruptly, he broke away and turned to start the shower. "We have an hour and we aren't wasting a minute more of it."

--0—0—

It was another gorgeous day on the Islands. A light breeze blew across the water as the early afternoon sun shone down, giving the ocean surface a sparkle broken only by the white-capped waves. Occasionally a few dolphins could be seen coming up for air.

Upon leaving the ferry, Riku lead Cloud to the far end of the boardwalk. The strip was full of people either shopping, heading to work, or going to the beach. The natives knew when to take advantage of the weather and storm season was quickly approaching.

"Where are we meeting them?" Cloud's eyes scanned the thickening crowd. As they got closer to the beaches, the number of people significantly increased.

"We're going all the way down to Crescent Beach." Riku shifted closer as a small group of children came barreling past. "It's the beach we always go to because there tends to be less people. The visitors are usually too lazy to come out past the first couple of sections."

Cloud nodded. "Good."

Aqua eyes flicked over with a light smirk. "You just want to be able to molest me on the beach."

Chuckling quietly, Cloud leaned to bump his shoulder against Riku's. "Zack would never let me live it down if he found out I didn't."

"Who found out you didn't what?" Selphie's voice sounded from behind them.

"You don't want to know." Riku looked over his shoulder. "Where's the rest of your trio?"

Selphie came up to Riku's free side. "Wakka should be with the others already and Tidus had a phone interview with some big shot Blitzball scout so he'll be along after."

The silver-haired teen frowned. "I thought he got that scholarship for Besaid next year?"

"He did. This is about doing a summer tour." Selphie explained easily. She then fixed her attention on Cloud. "So am I gonna see some action on the beach today?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know exactly what I mean!" The brunette girl grinned wickedly. "I have my camera all ready to catch any molestation of Riku you chose to do."

Mako-enhanced blue eyes sparkled with uncommon amusement. "Well that sucks. Here I was all prepared to break every public decency law but I don't perform for cameras."

"Damn it, Selph." Riku cursed with a laugh. "Way to ruin my dream of getting laid on the beach."

"Here!" Selphie rummaged through her bag and quickly handed over her camera. "Break it or do whatever you want to it! At least I'll have the memories to savor."

"Keep your camera, Selphie." Cloud wrapped his arm briefly around Riku's shoulders. "You'll get at least a few photo ops."

Selphie giggled. "Just be yourselves; all I really want is to see Riku happy and I noticed when you arrived that he only seemed to really smile when he was interacting with you."

Riku glanced at her before fixing his attention on the wooden planks they walked upon. He felt bad that he had been reserved with his friends since coming here. Normally, Sora was able to brighten his mood simply by being nearby but that was not working on this trip. He hoped that after his minor breakdown yesterday, things would be more normal between himself and everyone else.

"Oh! There's Kairi!" Selphie exclaimed, jumping up and waving. "Kairi!"

The auburn-haired young woman turned her head and quickly spotted the trio coming toward her. Her eyes brightened and she smiled as she waited for them to reach her. She joined with the group as they passed, Cloud automatically falling back a bit to let her walk beside Riku.

Riku noticed this and pouted. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting out of the way so you can talk with your friends," Cloud replied simply.

Aqua eyes rolled upward in exasperation. He reached behind and pulled Cloud back up with him. The two girls chuckled at the action and even Cloud half-smiled. Once he was returned to his proper place, Riku grumbled mildly, "It's bad enough that we can't touch too much; I can at least be close to you."

"Aww," Selphie gushed.

Riku glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "Yeah, yeah; I know. I've become a total sap."

"I think it's sweet," Kairi declared easily. "Both of you are very different with each other. It's like the only time the worlds see the real Riku and Cloud is when they're together."

Riku was uncertain how to take that observation. It had to be at least partially true because he certainly felt more comfortable, less like he needed to live up to anyone else's standards or ideas, when he was with him. Similar statements had been made by Zack and Tifa about Cloud before. While he couldn't speak for Cloud, Riku had the strong impression that he felt something akin to what he did.

"So, you been to the beach before, Cloud?" Selphie asked loudly.

"Yes, I've been to a beach before," Cloud said with a bit of irritation. "We did have those back home. I went to Costa del Sol several times."

Riku added on, "Zack adores the beach."

"I have to meet this guy." Kairi grinned.

"You will." Riku assured her. The four were approaching the path to Crescent Beach and there was nearly no one else present. "Next time we come, we'll bring Zack and Aerith with."

"Good." Selphie surged ahead, dragging Kairi with her. "I'm gonna go find everyone. Come on, Kai."

"That girl and Yuffie can never meet." Cloud murmured as they turned down the pathway. The route to the beach was lined by tropical plants and sand covered wood slates lead the way through.

Riku laughed as he laced his fingers with Cloud's and squeezed. There was no one else around. "Yeah, that just screams bad idea."

"Mm hmm." Cloud stopped walking and turned toward his lover. Stepping closer, he leaned in and brushed his lips against Riku's. "Think she's just ahead and hoping to ambush us with that camera?"

"Oh, I know she is," whispered the silvered male. Their mouth's remained barely a breath apart. "We always camp in the same spot."

"Should we indulge her?"

Chuckling, Riku placed a quick kiss on Cloud. "Let's just be ourselves and ignore the damn camera. I'll get Kairi to snatch it from her later."

--0—0—

Riku dropped down on one of the towels, shaking his dripping hair. It was early evening and they had been in the water for the past hour and a half playing their modified version of blitzball. Cloud had taken to the game incredibly well and teamed up with Tidus to create their own special techniques. Riku had a feeling that some of those techniques were going to be added to his blond friend's collection.

For the most part, the beach had been fairly empty like they had expected. There were some other small groups of natives, many who knew at least one of the teenagers, who had greeted them and then gone off to do whatever they were there for. Some of the other teens had ended up joining them for lunch and did not seem to care about how close Riku and Cloud were.

Riku didn't know if they had any clue that they were lovers and played it safe while they were there. After they had left, Selphie had assured him that they were cool and there wouldn't be any issues coming from them later. The brunette girl had to have taken at least a dozen pictures of them.

Seiya handed him a cool bottle of water. "Cloud seems to be enjoying himself."

"Yeah," agreed Riku, watching his boyfriend intercept the pass Sora made to Wakka. "I think he's using the opportunity to make up for the fact that he didn't do much of the teenager stuff when he was a teen."

"It doesn't matter why he does it." Seiya went back to check on the lobster boil she was making for dinner. "It's healthy for everyone to just cut loose and have fun once in awhile."

"I know. I worry about him sometimes." The eighteen-year-old leaned back on a hand. "Of course then he worries about me and it becomes a nasty circle but I guess that's just us. Thankfully we support each other more than we bring each other down so I guess it's balanced out."

"You make each other happy and that's all that matters." Seiya declared easily.

"Yeah." The silver-haired teen shifted his attention to the open ocean. The waves rolled gently, breaking into thin white-caps and occasionally a dolphin could be seen coming up for air. The palms rustled when the breeze kicked up and the seagulls could be heard from where they gathered on the other beaches to take advantage of the visitors.

Far out, marring the otherwise perfect horizon was the play island. Riku found himself staring at it and that strange whisper he had heard the day he and Cloud arrived came back to him. What had that been about? While Riku was not a stranger to hearing voices (he felt like some kind of mental patient thinking about how many times he had heard them), that one had been new and there had been such a longing to it.

Wherever that voice came from, it wanted him to find something on the play island. As he thought about it, that tugging in his heart to go investigate returned. He felt a need to go out there and look around, to find the source of those words and that need settled within him. He had experienced something like this before and it had ended horribly but this time… something was different.

Somehow, he knew there were answers there to questions he did not even know yet.

Riku raised his knees up and draped his arms on his kneecaps. He held the bottle before him and stared at it for a few moments. "Hey, Seiya?"

"What, baby?"

"Do you…" He paused, uncertain what he wanted to ask. "Have you ever had this feeling that you need to do something but have no idea why or what for?"

"I can't say that I have," answered Seiya after a moment. She placed the lid back on the pot and came over to sit beside him. Her position mirrored his. "But I do believe in intuition and instinct. If your heart is telling you to do something, you should probably do it."

Riku flicked his aqua eyes toward the end of the towel he sat upon. "What if it's something else? What if… you don't know what it is but something wants you to do something?"

He felt Seiya's eyes on him and waited. He had no idea how she was going to react to his questions. She probably was not the one to be asking these things but there was no one else he trusted to give him a real answer. Both Sora and Cloud would likely start worrying that Xehanort was trying to get to him again. The one thing he knew for sure that none of this had anything to do with Xehanort's Heartless.

Seiya's voice was quiet but certain. "Do what your heart dictates. If your heart agrees, then you should be okay."

Now Riku understood exactly where Sora got his beliefs from. Sora was always saying that Riku needed to just listen to his heart more often and to trust it. The younger boy had been extremely proud of Riku when he had decided that he wanted to live with Cloud without needed to be pushed by anyone else to make the decision.

However, while Riku knew the heart was a good way to measure things, there was more involved. The mind played a part in everything, too, and that was what was concerning Riku. Even if his heart was strong like everyone told him, his mind tended to be weak. It was the mind that made decisions and the mind had to have some kind of influence on the heart. He couldn't be certain that he was not misreading-

A hand rubbed at his back and he turned to see Seiya smiling at him. "Your conscious comes from your heart, Riku; the two work together. Don't think so much and do what you feel is right. Even if it's the wrong choice, we're all going to be here."

Feeling a smile pull at his lips, Riku nodded. "I know that."

"Good." She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "I worry about you, baby."

The smile disappeared and the young man's mood darkened. "I know. I'm sorry that I worry all of you."

"Just promise to keep talking about anything troubling you. You have always kept your feelings and thoughts to yourself and we never knew what you were going through. It's gotten so much better since you came back from your journey and since you got together with Cloud; you have changed so much. We all know you still have things you need to deal with, just remember that we're all here with you."

Riku nodded.

"Hey, Ku!" Sora called from the water. "Get your butt back out here and help me defeat your boyfriend! He, Kairi and Tidus are kicking me, Selphie and Wakka's asses."

"Looks like your needed," Seiya said with a laugh. "You have about an hour before the boil is done."

--0—0—

"I don't know where we are, little angel, but this is your home now… That is if I can find a way to get off this island. It looks like the one in the distance has people on it. I'll get you there and we'll find a nice family to take you in. I don't think I'm going to last much longer."

Cloud snored lightly, laying flat on his back. Riku was still in his arms, exactly as he had been when they had fallen asleep. He had awoken to those words echoing in his head like some kind of memory. The voice of the man speaking was the exact same at the one in the dream a couple of nights ago.

And it was the same as the one that had beckoned him to go back to the play island.

Riku repositioned his head so that he could better take in Cloud's sleeping face. He loved watching his lover sleep; there was this incredible peace that came to his expression. It was like all of the weight, past and present, left the older man when he slept.

Carefully moving, Riku scooted up and placed a gentle kiss on the sleeping man's lips. Cloud did not wake up but a faint smile curled his mouth and he settled a bit upon the mattress. Riku then slipped out of his arms and left the bed.

He crossed the room and found some clothes to throw on. Once that was accomplished, he pulled on his shoes and straightened out. He faced the bed and waited a minute. After he was certain that Cloud would not be waking up, he headed for the door.

It was time for him to find out what that dream voice wanted.