hi! back again, with more nonsense. happy galentine's day! I was gonna wait and post this tomorrow for a little valentine's treat but this is close enough and I'm impatient haha.

I started this because of school stress, and it got me through the week and continued school stress, so here I am. giving this to you. also a little more rikai content is always nice, right?

this became my other side of the coin to I've been blossoming alone (over you) so if you haven't read that then feel free! I mean it's cute so why not?

anyway, go ahead and enjoy! title is also from pink in the night by mitski and of course this is unbeta'd and edited to my best abilities.

cross posting from my ao3! originally posted 2/13/2020

The first time Kairi kissed Riku was in The World That Never Was.

She didn't plan to do it, honestly – it was just – impulse. After being trapped here for who knows how long, stuck in a cage, and then running for her life with a girl that felt both like a stranger and someone she knew all her life – and then reuniting with Riku – Riku, after missing him and regretting and worrying about him for an entire year –

The feelings that had been bubbling in her chest boiled over, and before she could think about it, Kairi had rocked onto the tips of her toes, grabbed fistfuls of Riku's jacket and yanked his face down to hers.

Again - it was impulsive – reckless, even. But she couldn't find it in her to regret it.

Especially when she stepped back and Riku had the softest dumbfounded expression; even though his face had changed, the core of him was still the same.

"Sorry!" She said in a rush, a rosy blush spreading across her face, "I'm sorry – I – I mean, I'm definitely not sorry for doing that but – but –"

Kairi was rambling, and Riku was still staring at her, stunned. She could feel the other girl – Naminè, she reminded herself – staring at her, too, and Kairi took a deep breath, centering herself.

"It was just in case, you know? In case this was my only chance."

She didn't want to say it frankly, but she was definitely thinking about it; what if they didn't survive this? What if they didn't make it back home?

Riku must have gotten a sense of what she was thinking – or maybe her fears were just plain on her face – because his eyes softened. "Kairi," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "it's going to be okay. We're gonna find Sora, and we'll get out of here. Okay?"

Setting her jaw, Kairi nodded shortly at him. "…Okay. We're gonna get out of here. And – and when we do, we can – we can talk about it."

And if we don't, then at least I had this chance, she thought, but she kept that to herself – she wouldn't bring down Riku's encouragement that way.

After Riku nodded at her words, he swept an arm out, Keyblade in hand, and the three of them started to make their way through the empty, sprawling halls of the castle.

-o-

And somehow – somehow, they got out.

Well – she got out, at first. Kairi got out and was forced to sit and wait and worry once again, returning to the play islands and furiously staring at the waves every day for the next three days until Sora and Riku magically fell into the sea. Home.

After so long apart, Sora and Riku were finally, finally home.

And yet – they still didn't talk about it.

They didn't talk about it, not after Sora flinging his arms around the two of them once Riku got close enough and throwing them back into the ocean, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey laughing in the background. They didn't talk about it during the weeks they adjusted being back in the islands, slowly settling back into the lazy pace of it all, spending almost every day together to catch up on the time they lost, when they weren't with their parents.

They didn't talk about it – not until two months later, after Sora stammered out that he needed to help his dad with something and scampered away, leaving the two of them alone.

Kairi blinked after Sora, stunned at such a quick departure and what was such an obvious, bold faced lie. "That was weird," she mumbled, "weirder than usual. I wonder if he's okay."

Riku hummed absently, and when she turned to look at him, he was looking out at the sea. He looked like he had something to say, but he wasn't sure how he wanted to say it – luckily, Kairi was still very good at waiting him out, and settled onto the trunk of their paopu tree to wait.

He didn't leave her waiting for too long, and after ten minutes of cloud watching he finally coughed awkwardly, shifting in place to finally get her attention.

"Kairi…"

She made a noise to let him know she was listening, sitting up and turning to give him her full attention. Riku twisted his fingers nervously, bowing his head and letting his bangs fall in front of his eyes, hiding. "I…do you – so…before, back in The World That Never Was –"

Kairi felt her stomach swoop somewhat at his words. "Oh! You mean you finally want to talk about it?"

Her tone was bright, but she couldn't help but let a bit of bite slip into her voice, a hint of her irritation coming through. Riku cringed, mouth twisting with guilt, and Kairi felt a little bad about it, but her frustration won out.

She would let him say his piece though and stewed quietly as she let Riku find the words.

"…I'm sorry, Kairi." He finally said, "I didn't mean to – to blow you off, or anything, I just –"

He huffed out a breath, frustrated. "I just didn't know what to say. I – I didn't want you to think I expect – I know that you and Sora –"

"Riku."

Kairi paused, waited until Riku finally pulled his eyes away from his hands and looked up at her through his bangs. Once she saw his eyes peeking up at her, she held out her arms in a silent invitation, her expression serious but soft.

Slowly, Riku scooted over until he was within reach, and once he was Kairi wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close, in, in, until he was pressed against her heart. She could feel him relax, just a little, and she ran her fingers though his long hair, resting her chin at the top of his head, thinking.

He was so tall, now - him and Sora, they were both so much taller than they used to be…they both had scars and callouses that were never there before. Laughed and moved a little differently than she remembered. They had grown without her, and she grew without them; she was worried, that when they finally reunited, they'd be so different that they wouldn't fit together anymore.

But no, she reassured herself as Riku sighed quietly into her collarbone, no – they still fit just fine, even now.

"I felt like you were about to say something stupid," she finally said, her tone solemn, "and I had to stop you before it was too late."

Riku laughed weakly, "but does that mean I'm wrong?"

"Are you?"

"I know I'm not – Kairi, I'm not blind."

She made a noise, not disagreeing with him, and she ran her fingers through his hair again, her eyes thoughtfully rising back up to the clouds. Slowly, she felt Riku's hands rest hesitantly on her hips, and Kairi couldn't smother a feeling of triumph.

"I do care about Sora," she agreed, "I care about him very much. But do you think I don't care about you, too?"

Kairi felt him stiffen back up and no, that wouldn't do – she ran her hands through his hair again, waited until he calmed, some. "…I don't deserve it," he quietly admitted, "not from you, or from Sora. I – hurt you two. I hurt you two so much."

"You did," she agreed, and Riku's eyes lowered in shame, his head sagging until his forehead touched her collarbone. But she wasn't done. "You hurt me. You hurt Sora, and Sora hurt me, and I hurt you. It just happens, sometimes. Even when we don't mean to."

She pulled her eyes away from the clouds, looked at the top of Riku's bowed head, "but…it's not so much that it can make me stop caring about you."

"But," Riku said into the collar of her shirt, "but don't you feel –"

"I do," Kairi cut him off, her voice challenging, tired of going in circles, "don't you?"

Riku froze up again, caught, and Kairi waited him out, continuing to comb her fingers through his hair. "I –" his voice caught in his throat, and he coughed a little, "I -uh…. yes."

She didn't even have to look into his eyes to know he was scared stiff, and Kairi wanted to laugh – talking feelings with Riku would always be like pulling teeth, sometimes.

"And me?"

"…Yes." He softly admitted, so shy. Her heart melted in her chest at Riku's bashful admission, and this time, Kairi let herself laugh, soft and full of all her fondness.

"Then don't be so dumb," she scolded, on the tail end of a laugh. "Riku. Riku, come on. Look at me."

Unwinding her arms from around his shoulders, Kairi tucked her fingers beneath his chin, thumbs gently cradling his jaw as she coaxed his head up. Once he finally lifted his head, she ran a soft path across his jawline with her thumb, using her other hand to brush his bangs away to see his eyes, which were occasionally looking at her before dancing away nervously.

"Sorry," he grumbled, and Kairi laughed again. "Sorry for what?"

"I don't know." His eyes fluttered shut for a moment when she ran her thumb along his jaw again, but he quickly opened his eyes again, eyes bright. "I'm sorry for a lot of stuff, but for now I'm sorry for avoiding you like that. I should've talked to you."

"You should have," Kairi agreed, "but can you tell me plainly? No half sentences, this time – I want to hear it."

She leaned in a little closer to him, still stroking his face, and color slowly began to spread across Riku's cheeks. "…I like you," he quietly admitted, "and I like Sora, too."

"What a coincidence," Kairi said, quietly happy, "because I like you and Sora, too."

She watched the joy spread across Riku's face with a smile, leaning in just a little closer. He noticed, of course – it wasn't like she was trying to hide it – and his eyes bounced nervously from her eyes to her lips and back again.

Kairi smiled, promising, and their noses brushed against each other, light as air. "Okay?"

"Okay," Riku whispered, and the second time Kairi kissed Riku was on their paopu tree, warm sunlight brushing across their faces. And it was a lot better than the first time, even though it was a little clumsy because they couldn't stop smiling.

-o-

Things didn't really change too much, after that – but there were still little differences that Kairi noticed.

One difference – she's getting much better at kissing.

Another difference – Sora's gotten flighty.

He hasn't run off like that one day, weeks ago, but – he's a little jumpier, around them. A handful of times Kairi's caught him staring, his eyes bright with something she didn't get a chance to name before their eyes locked and Sora's eyes darted away. Every time he's near there's a feeling of being on edge – like he was dancing on the balls of his feet, leaning in one second to get close and then darting away like a frightened bird the next, scared to get too close.

It made Kairi curious.

"Hey, Riku?"

He grunted to let her know he was listening, his gaze intent as he carefully applied a layer of purple polish to her nails; his were already a fetching turquoise, courtesy of his mother – the color matched the exact shade of his eyes.

"Has Sora been acting kinda weird to you?"

"You mean weirder than usual?" He swiftly capped the bottle of nail polish shut, lightly blowing across her hands to encourage the polish to dry faster. "I suppose he's been a little off."

"Riku, don't tease. I'm serious." Kairi splayed her hands across her thighs, taking care to not move too much. "You've actually noticed, though?"

"Can't say – what have you seen?"

"Well…" Kairi bit her lip, thinking, "I don't know, he just seems – jumpy. And I've caught him staring, a couple of times. I just…"

Hope bloomed in the pit of her stomach, and she anxiously shifted in place, "I just think – with how he's been acting, do you think that maybe Sora might feel -?"

"No."

Kairi pressed her lips together to hold back a pout at Riku's short tone, at how he avoided her eyes as he put the nail polish away. "Well, I think so," she grumbled, reminding herself not to curl her hands into fists.

"Kairi, everyone knows that Sora likes you – it's not like he'd been subtle about it. He was asking about the paopu story, before – Selphie wouldn't stop gushing about it for days."

Kairi refused to blush at that, because she did want to share a paopu with him and there was nothing wrong with that. "Riku, you always thought those old tales were funny. Out of the three of us, Sora and I are probably the most romantic."

Riku scowled, grabbing her hands and lightly running a finger over the surface of her nails to make sure they were dry. "I can too be romantic," he protested, grabbing a bottle of clear polish and beginning to carefully apply it to her nails. "I just always thought those kinds of stories were kinda phony."

"And yet you always latched on to the islands' ghost stories, and the stories about the monsters – probably because you liked to make us cry!"

"Not my fault you two were always such scaredy cats." Riku sniffed with a small, impish smile, and if Kairi wasn't waiting for her nails to dry again she'd push his face away.

"Anyway," she stressed, "you're not going to distract me – what makes you so sure you've got Sora's feelings pinned, huh?"

Riku's expression was flat when he turned his head, staring out his open window as he thought; the rays of the setting sun hit his hair, highlighting it with gold, and Kairi was content to just watch him, waiting for an answer.

"…I just know," he finally said, turning back to look down at their hands, still connected. Riku ran an absent thumb across her knuckles, "I know him. We're just friends – best friends. And that's fine…that's enough. It's not like I've earned the right for more."

This time, Kairi couldn't stop her frown, and Riku swept in for a kiss, trying to be reassuring – yet always kissing her like it wouldn't last, like she'd be snatched away any moment. It was unfair, with her nails not yet dry, because she couldn't put her hands in his hair like she wanted – but Riku gently laced their fingers together, and that would have to do.

"I know we've been apart for a while," Kairi said after three more kisses, "but if you really think that Sora feels that way, then you don't know him as well as you think you do."

Riku smiled, but it didn't really reach his eyes, and he leaned in for one more kiss. "We'll see," was all he said when he pulled away, "now – do you wanna stay for dinner? We can probably make it downstairs in time to help my moms out. And we can watch a movie or something, after."

She let him change the subject with a wrinkle of her nose, "no, I have dibs on movie night this weekend. Can we play video games instead?"

Riku scoffed, pulling them off his bed, "why, so you can beat me into the dirt and keep up your winning streak?"

The smile Kairi gave him was as bright as sunlight, and Riku squinted at her, "that's exactly why! Riku, you're so smart."

"Keep condescending me and you're not getting fed."

"What?!" Kairi latched onto him, stricken, wrapping her arms around his neck, "Riku, that's not fair! You can't just invite me for dinner and then take it back!"

"I can too." Her dead weighting on him apparently didn't register, because Riku straightened up and made his way to the door, Kairi still hanging onto him.

"Noooo, Rikuuuu, don't be mean! I want food! I'm gonna help and everything, come on."

Riku's laughter was bright as he shuffled them out of his room, and Kairi was content to let the curiosity she had lie.

For now.

-o-

A couple weeks later, Kairi's curiosity was piqued again when the gifts started showing up.

She'd started to get suspicious after movie night at Sora's place – he'd made them snacks. Not jut stuff bought from the store, but snacks from scratch. And it was their favorites.

Sora had taken forever to relax as they watched the movie, stiffening up when they leaned against him as they normally do. Eventually they ended up sprawled across each other and the couch, like they usually do, and beneath her palm Kairi could feel Sora's heart, racing away like it was about to burst.

It left her wondering; no one just makes something from scratch for no reason – her favorite dessert, even. And Riku's! They both know how easy Riku is for the cookies his mom makes! And for Sora to make them, just because –

Well.

She was curious. She was wondering ever since if possibly…maybe…

But now, with a handful of Thalassa shells – now, Kairi felt a little more sure on her gut feelings.

Sora grinned at her, seawater still dripping off the ends of his hair; his skin was back to the warm, nutty brown always had been, a flush across his face that had her wondering if it was just from the sun. She smiled at him, delighted by such a thoughtful gesture; she knew how hard it was, to gather so many shells.

"This – this is so sweet of you, Sora. Thank you."

Kairi silently delighted at how Sora fell into a stammering mess, shyly reaching up to scratch at the back of his head – it was adorable, she wanted to eat him.

"I-it's no big deal!" He was stuttering, "I'm glad you like them! I mean, of course you would, duh, you really like them, I already knew that, so –"

Kairi laughed, the fondness swelling in her chest making her feel like she could float, and Sora snapped his mouth shut with a loud 'click'.

"I do like them." Tucking the shells into her pocket, she reached out to grab Sora's hand, relishing to herself at how warm he was – like he'd soaked up a fraction of the sun's warmth and radiated it. "Now, come on – do you want to get lunch from the usual spot? We can get sandwiches."

She wanted to talk to Riku about it immediately, but she knew he would just say stuff like this was just the norm, coming from Sora. But she knew it was more! She knew! She had never been so sure of anything. No, Kairi decided, squeezing Sora's hand, she knew her heart – she would trust it. But…she would still try and wait – see what Sora's next move would be.

Kairi didn't have to wait long.

A week later, she was sitting at the docks, carefully working on another wayfinder with the shells Sora gave her, when someone roughly sat next to her on the dock, shoving their face into her neck.

Lowering her needle, Kairi looked down and stared at the blushing curve of Riku's cheek, the rosy color spreading to the tips of his ears. He was warm and sweaty, his hair tossed over his shoulder and in a neat braid – he had been out practicing, she guessed.

Kairi knew that Riku felt her looking at him, and yet he stubbornly stayed face-planted into her neck; not even a gentle jostling with her shoulder could move him. "C'mon, Riku," she moved her shoulder again, but he still wouldn't budge, "did something happen?"

He groaned something, and if there were words in there somewhere, Kairi definitely missed them, and she rolled her eyes. "Well, until you want to let me know what happened – here, move –"

Putting her work to the side for a moment, she finally coxed Riku's head out of his hiding place enough to heave herself onto his lap. "There," she huffed, reaching for her shells to resume her work, "you can hide that way, or whatever, until you can finally let me know what happened. I was working on something, you know."

Riku said nothing, pressing his cheek against the back of her shoulder, and Kairi leaned into him, sighed quietly, and got back to work. Despite Riku having a silent crisis at her back, the air was peaceful, and soon Kairi found herself slipping into a deep focus, humming travel hymns and prayers under her breath as she worked, just like Sora's mother taught her.

"He gave me something," Riku finally mumbled, pulling her out of the zone she fell into.

"Hm?"

"Sora. He gave me something, while we were sparring today."

"Really? What was it?" She let her work drop to her lap, curious. "What did he give you?"

Riku's arms wrapped around her, winding around her waist so he could open his clenched hand and show her the piece of sea glass that rested in his palm. Kairi's eyes widened a little, and she reached out to touch it, running a thumb across its surface – perfectly smooth. "Oh, wow."

"Yeah." His voice was rough, but he held the glass up to the sun, the reflection shining down onto their faces. "He said it – that he thought of me. That it was pretty. Like my eyes."

His voice trailed off into an embarrassed whisper and oh, Sora was good – the sea glass really was the exact shade of Riku's bright eyes.

"That's really sweet of him," Kairi mused brightly, "and he was right – you do have very pretty eyes."

Riku let out a strangled noise before shoving his face back into her shoulder, and Kairi laughed, radiant and unrestrained. "I don't understand why he would – it's not – I don't de –"

"Is it so hard to believe, now?" Kairi cut off his self-deprecation before it could begin, reaching out to curl his fingers around the sea glass Sora gifted him. "That Sora cares about you? How could you still doubt him?"

Riku took in a breath, starting to say something, but Kairi wasn't gonna hear it. "Riku, I think you need to start believing that you can have nice things, okay? This –"

She squeezed his hand again, "-is never going to go away. Understand? I'm not going to leave you. Sora isn't going to leave you. Even if this somehow doesn't – doesn't last…you're always going to be my best friend. And Sora's. Nothing will ever, ever change that."

Puffing out her cheeks, Kairi stubbornly kept working, carefully punching out a hole in another shell to add to the wayfinder. "…just enjoy this. Okay? I like you, and I'm pretty sure Sora likes you, too. And that's that."

Riku didn't say anything, but his arms tightened around her waist to let Kairi know she'd been heard, so that was alright.

"…I want to give you a kiss," Riku mumbled softly, and Kairi snorted a little, still focused on her wayfinder. "Well, there's other places you can kiss."

She didn't register the words until they slipped out of her mouth, and her eyes widened as Riku sputtered before bursting into loud laughter. "I-! I didn't mean it like – I didn't mean for it to come out like that! Riku! Riku stop laughing, you know what I meant!"

But Riku was gone, and Kairi was left to stew in her embarrassment, face burning as Riku continued to laugh into her shoulder. "I lied, I'm breaking up with you immediately," Kairi said, scowling at her unfinished wayfinder. "Today, even. It's been fun but we should probably part ways, most likely forever –"

"Alright, alright!" Riku laughed, hooking his chin over her shoulder to press a kiss to her cheek. "I'm sorry for embarrassing you – even though you kinda walked right into that one."

Kairi sniffed, faux-offended, "I guess you're forgiven."

"I'm so grateful," Riku said dryly, and Kairi gave him a gentle headbutt in retaliation.

They fell back into a relaxed silence, Riku's chin still hooked over her shoulder, and Kairi could feel his eyes on her hands as she continued sewing the shells together. "…Did you lose the one you gave to Sora?" he finally asked, and Kairi shook her head.

"No, I still have that one."

"So," he drew it out, hesitant, "you're making another one?" At her nod, he pushed on, "…who's it for?"

"Can you guess?"

Riku didn't say anything, pulling back to bury his face back into her shoulder, and Kairi bit back a smile.

When she felt a soft kiss pressed into the skin of her shoulder, Kairi knew that he understood.

-o-

After that, Sora's desire to just give them things became insatiable.

It seemed that every other weekend he would have something for them – a little trinket he saw at the markets, or something he saw at the beach. The one time Sora brought a chocolate tart to Riku's house, he called her in distress, and Kairi could hear the distant sound of Sora laughing with Riku's mothers in the background.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take," Riku hissed, and Kairi could picture him running a frantic hand through his hair. "Does – is he playing with me? Am I reading too much into things?"

Kairi hummed into her phone, toying with the chain of her necklace. "I dunno, Riku," she said thoughtfully, "didn't Sora spend almost ten minutes last week just complimenting your hair?"

Riku let out a quiet, strangled noise, and rightfully so – when they didn't get any gifts, they got a deluge of compliments and sweet words to make up for it. It was almost too much to bear.

"Kairi you don't understand," Riku said, his voice tight, "I almost lost it at the door, I swear to god – Kairi. Kairi, I almost kissed him in front of my moms. I can't do it anymore."

Now Kairi did laugh, and Riku groaned. "Kairi, come on. This is so unfair. What do I do?"

"Hmm…" she tapped at her chin, lips pursed, "you could share the tart with me when I come over later? And we can get some practice in so when you snap and finally kiss him, it won't be so bad."

She was still laughing when Riku hung up on her.

Kairi wasn't laughing when Sora sprang a gift on her two weeks later – a bracelet, with carved shells wound together on silver chains. When Riku came over after her frantic calls, she was near tears, twisting her wrist and watching the tiny charms sway back and forth.

"Now you see how it feels, don't you?" Riku sounded so smug as he entered her room, seeing her sprawled across her bed, and if she wasn't so overwhelmed, she would've grabbed one of her shoes and threw it at him.

"Don't be mean," she weakly scolded, her voice thick. "I wasn't ready. He just sprung it on me. I almost tackled him."

Riku sputtered with laughter as he sat next to her on her bed, and she gave him a small smile, finally letting her arm drop to the bed. "I guess this is what I get for teasing you when it happened to you." Sniffling, Kairi swiped at the overwhelmed tears that still clung to her lashes, "oh, man," she sighed, "that was a lot."

And it was – she could still see Sora's smile, wide and so pleased, his eyes locked on her face as she blushed so hard Kairi could feel the heat radiating off her face. She could still feel Sora's hands, so warm, as he placed the bracelet on her wrist, watching the charms quietly trill against each other with a grin.

Kairi still isn't sure how she found the will power to not kiss him stupid.

She sighed loudly, distraught, "Riku, I like him so much. How much longer can we wait?"

"I dunno." Riku leaned back onto his hands, "he's gotta say something soon – it's so…obvious."

"It is. But I don't want to scare him!" She kicked her legs for a moment, pouting, "Sora's the bravest out of all of us – he's gotta say something soon."

But he didn't.

Days of time spent together, Sora showering them with gifts and treats and sweet words, his heart practically shining in his eyes. Beach days, hours of sparring at the play islands, movie nights curled up together and listening to Sora's rabbit heart – but he didn't say anything. He never did.

It took two months for Kairi to finally heave herself up onto their paopu tree, her face grim. "We have to talk to him."

Riku cringed, perched on the paopu tree as well, "Kairi…"

"Riku! We have to!" She shook her head, "it's been two months, and he –"

Her breath hitched, "I have to know."

When it was just a few days of this, of kind words and smiles and sweet gifts, she was sure. But now – now, after days and weeks and damn near months of this…Kairi began to anxiously bite at her thumb, only stopped when Riku grabbed her hand and gently brought her hand back to her lap.

"I don't want to scare him," Kairi whispered, "but I –"

"- you wanna make sure that he's not just being nice." Riku finished, and Kairi scowled. "He's not –"

"But now you're not sure."

"No," she said sharply, hands clenched tight in her lap, "I'm just…impatient. Stupidly."

Riku laughed, but it was a little hollow, and Kairi scooted closer to him, placing a hand on his arm. "Riku," she gently chided him, "do you remember what I said, forever ago?"

"…I need to believe I can have nice things," he answered, reluctant, and Kairi nodded, giving his arm a squeeze. "Glad you didn't forget. Try and remember that now, okay?"

He shook his head, looking helpless, "Kairi, but what if – what if we're wrong? What if we make it weird, and he doesn't want to be around us anymore?"

"It's not gonna be weird." She tried to keep her tone bracing, confident, and she looked up into Riku's face, "we'll find out, and no matter what, we'll always be his friend. Okay?"

Riku pressed his lips into a thin line, but before he could say anything, Sora's voice rang out behind them.

"Kairi, Riku! Sorry if I'm late!"

He jogged up to them, smiling brightly, and Kairi could see the flowers cradled in his hands and her stomach swooped.

I don't want to be wrong, Kairi begged as Sora hopped onto their tree between them and held out the small bouquets that he made for them with a wide smile. Please, I just want to know – don't let me be wrong.

-o-

"Kairi, Riku, I – I really, really like you."

I have never been so glad to be wrong, Kairi thought to herself, contentedly watching as Riku continued to kiss every thought out of Sora's head.

Asking Sora outright of his intentions went better than she'd ever hoped – better than she had dreamed. She was so afraid that confronting him the way they did would scare him off; worse, a little part of her really did start to think that she was reading too much into his intentions, hoping for too much.

Kairi was really starting to expect the worst, but now...now…well.

Well.

She still felt awful about making Sora cry, but it all worked out in the end.

"Riku, you're being stingy," Kairi finally said, wrapping her arms around his chest and curling her fingers in Sora's shirt, pressing her pout into the back of his shoulder as she felt Sora's heart race under her hands. "I've been waiting to kiss Sora just as long as you have – longer, even."

"You really wanna bet on that?" Riku mumbled, finally pulling away from Sora enough that Kairi could pull him towards her. "Now?"

"No," she answered absently, "maybe later. Or never. Who cares."

Who could care, when Sora's eyes were so wide and bright? When he had such a lovely flush on his face? Kairi could almost hear his thoughts, the disbelief that this was actually happening, that they were doing this.

There were still tears clinging to his lashes – she needed to fix that.

Finally getting to kiss Sora was such a dream, she could do it all day – honestly, she planned on it. Sora made a little noise of protest when she pulled away, and Kairi frowned when she saw him dazedly blinking away more tears.

"Sora," she crooned, "don't cry, okay? I feel really bad, I didn't mean for us to make you cry."

He laughed wetly, "I can't stop! I'm just – I'm really happy!" He smiled at them, so bright, and Riku leaned over his shoulder to press a kiss to his cheek. "I just thought – I thought you'd never, ever –" Sora's eyes started shining again, and Kairi leaned in to press a kiss to his cheek, too, making him laugh.

"Kairi –" he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close until she was pretty much in his lap, "- Riku –" he leaned back a little more, gently nudged his temple against his, " – can you…can you say it again? I want to hear it again."

His voice was soft, so wondrous, and Kairi felt her heart melting in her chest. Peeking over Sora's shoulder, she saw Riku's eyes crinkle in a way that she knew he was smiling, just as fond over his request as she was.

"Of course." Kairi reached up, gently brushing his bangs out of his face even though they fell back into place, "I'll say it as many times as you want."

Kairi would say it over and over – until her voice was hoarse. She would never get tired of saying it, never get tired of the smile that those words produced.

She leaned in close, closer, until his blue eyes were all she could see. "Sora," she murmured, "I really like you."

His eyelashes fluttered a little, and a goofy smile spread across his face. "Again, please."

"I really like you." This time, it was Riku that said it, punctuating it with another soft kiss to his cheek.

"Again."

"I really like you, Sora." Their noses brushed together, lightly, and Kairi giggled quietly when Sora leaned down to press his flushed cheek against the curve of her neck, the warmth sinking into her skin.

"One more time," he requested, pressing a shy kiss against Kairi's pulse that tied her tongue silent, her words morphing into an embarrassed squeak that made Riku snicker.

"We really like you, Sora." Riku swooped in, giving him a squeeze around the waist as Kairi used those seconds to recover. "We like you so much, you could almost say that we love you."

If his eyes weren't bright before, they practically shined now, and Kairi just couldn't resist that. She reached out and grabbed a fistful of Riku's shirt, pulling him in and sandwiching Sora between them for a kiss, before letting him go and reaching for Sora, cradling his head in her hands and pulling him up to pepper him with kisses once again.

It was soft, and sweet, and so perfect, just like all the other kisses before it – a little clumsy every now and then, but that was fine.

Especially since it was because they couldn't stop smiling.

"We can't stay here all day," Riku eventually said, even though he sounded happy to sit here and do just that. "We should probably make our way back to the islands, soon."

"I know, but…just a little while longer. Okay?" Arms still tight around Kairi's waist, he carefully turned the two of them towards Riku to grab onto Riku's shirt. Sora pulled him close, and Riku swayed towards him willingly, drawn into a soft, lingering press of lips. When Sora eventually let him go, Riku looked stunned, dazed and willing to do whatever Sora asked.

"Please," he whispered, resting his cheek on the top of Kairi's head as she leaned into his chest, a smile curving her lips as Sora looked at him with soft eyes. "Let's just stay a little longer."

And so they stayed.

cool! there we go! how nice.

I hope y'all have a good valentine's day. spend it with the people you love whether it's friends or family or a significant other or whatever! just spread the love. eat some chocolate if you're into that.

I love a good day brightening comment, and kudos are also extremely loved and appreciated! who knows what's gonna come outta my brain next but I'm loving this soft fuzzy bullshit train I've been on. hope y'all have, too.

I'm outie to go eat something, so I hope y'all have a nice weekend!