AN:Sorry for taking so long to update.. Finals are coming up and I'm generally pretty busy (yeah right XD) so please forgive me for the delay.
As for my thanks, I'd like to thank SerenityDenied, for being the great beta she is, and for the wonderful reviews! (I'd like to thank QuirkQuirk for the review.. It was nice when people point out the good things in your fiction.. So yeah, thank you for that comment, dearest!)
Also, I hope you enjoy this slightly shorter chapter, but a pretty long one nonetheless. I promise not to neglect this fic, since I really like the plotline and.. Well, that's it Ty you all for reading again!
Sora dusted off his baggy cargo pants and slumped on the cool sand, bare legs dipping in the ocean and spreading a nice sting all over the youth's body. So the sea wasn't that bad after all…
Sora sighed and cast a longing stare at the sparkling waves. Perhaps he was overreacting with his fear of drowning.
Ever since the same day in his childhood when he tried to catch a tiger-fish that somehow got close to shore, but got washed away by a giant wave out of nowhere. He tried to fight the brutal stream of water, but his frail eight year old muscles were just too weak. By the time Sora was conscious again, the sun was already setting and Kairi was hovering over him with a worried look, telling him that he was washed back to shore unconscious and slept for the past six hours.
A tiny sigh escaped the brunette's slightly parted lips as he pulled closer to the shoreline and dug the wet sand with his ankles so his feet could settle more comfortably. He then turned his gaze up to look at the rising sun, a warm smile creeping its way on his lips.
Ring.
"A new message for you!"
Sora eyed the blue-paneled gadget lying beside him and flipped the thing open, pressing the menu button to open the message.
'Hey, call me when you wake up and we'll arrange another drawing session. –Riku'
Well, that was certainly unexpected. Sora pushed his legs further into the ocean and leaned his elbows on top of his knees, so his cell was idly supported by his palms while he searched for Riku's number in the phone's memory.
Pressing the 'call' button, the teen flipped his cell and pressed it to his ear. "Riku.." He licked his lips, stretching his arms as he felt the silver-haired boy's oddly energetic voice; It was 7 AM after all..
"Wow, didn't expect you to call me back so fast" He joked, a slight trace of amusement decorating his voice.
"Why, for heaven's sake are you awake?" Sora huffed, lying back on the soft sand.
"Painting the sunrise. What's your excuse?"
"…Getting rid of old fears." Sora frowned at his answer, but let it slide nonetheless.
"Oh really.. Like what?"
"Like water." Sora pursed his lips, sitting back up.
"Weird, I though you were the water-loving type.." Riku chuckled, a small smile spreading on his lips.
"Hey! Don't laugh at me! It's an old trauma…" Sora hissed, stabbing his finger accusingly into the sand.
"I'm not laughing at you Sora. I'm just surprised." Somehow, Sora could just feel the smile in his voice.. Weird.
"Well.. Yeah.. So I'm trying to get used to the ocean and such… Kairi, the one I asked you to draw a portrait of… Well, she likes the ocean very much, and I'm trying to get over my fear so I can at least sit on the beach with her." He sighed, previously stabbing finger now drawing tiny circles on his right ankle and foot.
"Is this Kairi your girlfriend or something?" Riku's voice was slightly tense, as if he was trying to conceal something.
"Huh? No!.. She's just a childhood friend. A really, really good childhood friend. She moved in and became my neighbor when I was four, and we were friends since." Sora chuckled, tapping his finger against his toes.
"…Oh."
"Why? You like her or something? I know she's cute." Sora teased, leaning forward and hugging his knees.
"No.. Just curious."
"Well, Ican arrange a date for you both if you want to.. Bet she's gonna fall head over heels for a handsome guy like you." Sora smiled gently, although deep inside he felt a slight sting, telling him that he didn't really want Riku and Kairi to meet. He wanted to keep Riku his special friend… Well, for now, anyway.
"That's okay Sora… I think I'm good for now, but thanks for the offer anyway." Riku hummed thoughtfully.
"Heh, no prob!" He called, splashing some water around with his wrist.
"About our session…"
"Oh yeah! What about it?" Sora was pulled back from his small daydream about raspberry ice-cream and raised his eyes to look at the rising sun, looking at it through the slits between his barely partied fingers.
"Well, since you're already at the beach, figured we could meet there, so I can draw you standing in the water or something like that.."
"Sounds good to me. Where should we meet?" Sora tilted his head to the side, switching the cell and pressing it to his other ear.
"Stay wherever you are. The shore isn't that big. I'll find you."
And Sora did. Saying his goodbyes to the older boy and shoving the small gadget back into his pant's pocket, he let his eyes close and his body relax. Soon enough, the brunette was fast asleep.
When Riku finally managed to find Sora, he was greeted by the sight of a slumbering boy, his arms were draped by his sides, head turned away from the sun, and feet buried in the wet sand, washed by the shallow waves every few seconds.
He snickered playfully and took out his sketchbook, sitting on the sand and starting to draw the sleeping brunette's figure. It took about half an hour before Sora was awakened by the shadow of Riku looming over him.
"Uhh?.." The younger one blinked, trying to figure what was blocking the sun's rays.
"Good morning, Sora" Riku chuckled, crossing his arms and placing the sketchbook on the now warm sand.
"Oof… Riku…" Sora murmured lazily and turned on his side. His feet were now out of the water, and hands were rubbing his knees.
"Mmhm?" The elder hummed, taking his sketchbook back to finalize the drawing and show it to Sora. "Today session's over. Wanna go for a walk while it's still not too hot?" He offered, standing up and reaching his hand for Sora to take. The brunette nodded and helped himself up, dusting his baggy pants and stretching his slightly sore muscles.
"Why not.." He yawned, shaking his head and making sand fly in all directions. "Walking sounds good." He smiled, throwing his hands behind his head in a careless manner.
"Do you have to make it sound so lame?" The silver haired teen rolled his eyes, shoving his sketchbook and pencils into his small side-bag.
Sora nodded once, chuckling and grabbing Riku's hand in his own. "C'mon, let's go to the small island with the paopu tree or something.. I've only been there twice before, so I wanna explore it a bit!" The brunette chirped, dragging Riku along with him.
"Sora.. Didn't you say you were afraid of the water?..." Riku's brow arched as he pulled the eager teen back.
Oh. That's right… The reason why Sora didn't get to go to the small island before was because he couldn't get over his fear of drowning…
"Ugh… Well.. If you don't mind… Maybe we could.. Swim there together? So in case I start panicking you'll help me.." Sora squeezed Riku's hand in a pleading sort of manner and licked his lower lip. "Because I can swim. I'm just a bit scared." He admitted, rising his hopeful look to the other teen's eyes.
"Well, I think it can be helped then. Let's go." A smile was offered, and a squeeze returned to Sora's hand.
"Heh.. Thanks Riku.." Sora tilted his head to the side, intertwining their fingers as they started silently walking towards the spot closest to the little island.
"No biggie. Now let's get into the water. You can hold my back if you feel you're drowning." Riku stated, his gaze lingering on the horizon.
Sora nodded in response and stretched his free hand. His shoes were already tied by the laces around his neck, so he wouldn't have to struggle with his legs while swimming.
The brunette took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut before taking a shaky step into the water. His hand was tightly clasped within Riku's, so every time the boys took another step deeper and Sora would look back with a quiet scowl, Riku could gently remind him he was going to be fine.
Soon enough, both teens could no longer touch the bottom with their legs when standing, which made Sora very unhappy, even though Riku constantly reassured him that he was not going to drown any time soon. Sora took another breath in and wrapped his hands around Riku's shoulders for a good measure, squirming every time a small wave threatened hitting his face.
"It's going to be fine I told you!.. C'mon, start rowing with your feet and help me swim to this island." Riku sighed, reaching back with his hand to ruffle Sora's hair.
"Okay okay.. Beh.." Sora huffed, pulling himself closer to Riku so he was now horizontally floating, and started kicking his legs in circular motions to help Riku.
"That's better. Now hang on tight." Riku offered a friendly smile before pursing his lips and starting to row with his hands. Sora made a tiny scared noise and tightened his grip around Riku's shoulders.
"Try keeping yourself busy with something else like counting the clouds or something!" Riku called, shaking his head to get the wet bangs out of his eyes.
Sora looked around him in utter panic, eyes searching for something to concentrate on. First he tried concentrating on the waves, but that just reminded him of the sea; then he tried the sky, but it was too empty to look at; finally, his look landed on the silver-haired teen which he was holding. 'Hnn.. He does kinda look like a white shark..' Sora mused, tilting his head to the side and trying to imagine Riku as a shark-ish merman. His fingers spread upon Riku's shoulders, trying to feel up the muscles working beneath the elder's wet shirt. Heh.. He really did remind Sora of a shark..
The brunette pursed his lips and moved closer to Riku. He wasn't half as scared now, so he let one hand slide down the plain of Riku's back as he tried to imagine just where the dorsal fin would be. After all- said fin should be somewhere in the middle of the back.
"Sora, is everything okay?" Riku huffed, trying to keep his head above the water as he spoke.
"Oh? Oh!" Sora let go of the other boy's back at once, returning his hand to the previous place on top of Riku's shoulder.
"Heh." Riku chuckled, continuing to row energetically. "We're almost there!" He called, turning his head back to look at the now blushing Sora. "Eh? Why the blush?" He hummed, slowing down a bit so he could speak without getting a gallon of water in his mouth.
"Nevermind.. It was nothing.." Sora huffed, glancing away grumpily.
Riku simply shrugged and got back to rowing, though the thought of Sora dismissing earlier discussed subject with such ease disturbed him quite a bit. In other words, Riku did not like the fact that Sora wasn't trying to feel up his back because it looked so damn sexy.
The remaining part of the swim was relatively quiet. Sora found a way to distract himself by trying to imagine what he and Riku would do when they got to the island, and Riku simply concentrated on getting to the island as fast as possible.
"Hey, what's that thing?" Sora tilted his head quizzically and pointed at a large flashy star-shaped fruit.
"Eh? Are you serious? Even I heard of this fruit, and I haven't been to Destiny Island for years!" Riku frowned and crossed his arms. Sora simply stuck his tongue out in reply.
"Fine fine! You don't have to get all grumpy on me." Sigh.
"Paopu fruit is supposed to be a legendary fruit which can intertwine people's destinies if shared." Riku mused thoughtfully and made his way to the twisted palm the paopus were growing on.
"Is the bond eternal?" Sora soon enough followed the silver haired boy and leaned against the palm's trunk
"I guess it is. That's why the fruit is considered legendary, right?" Riku smiled softly and closed his eyes, letting the salty breeze play with his hair.
"Probably…" Sora sighed and lowered his gaze to the sand, where his eyes followed the journey of a little crab.
"Hey, I never got to say thank you for bringing me here!" Sora exclaimed after a few moments of silence. "So uhh… Thank you." He chuckled sheepishly and offered the older boy a wide smile.
"You're welcome." Riku offered calmly and rolled his head back, opening his eyes now. "So, still afraid of the sea?" He snickered, not really expecting a positive answer.
"I guess.. Kind of. It's a childhood fear, I think that's why I could get over it easily." Sora nodded, crossing his arms now and turning to look up at the sea. "Hey, ever wondered what's across that sea?" Sora tilted his head, looking at Riku from the corner of his eye.
"I did. Wondered what people live like in different places." He chuckled, "That's one of the reasons why I moved here from a place called Hollow Bastion." His gaze turning to Sora now. "Why you asking?"
"Well.. I lived my whole life on this island.. I'm just curious." He nodded, letting a smile cross his lips now.
Riku chose not to reply that one, and simply closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the trunk.
"So um.. You wanna do something?" Sora offered shyly, squeezing his fingers one against another as he moved over to Riku, leaning on his trunk too.
"I'm feeling lazy." Riku murmured with a quiet sigh.
Sora simply rolled his eyes and snorted. "Pig."
"Am not." Riku frowned, tapping his fingers against his arms.
"Well. Imma go get us some coconuts. I feel like eating coconuts." Sora stated with a single nod and turned to search for some palm trees with ripe coconuts for Riku and himself to eat.
The older boy said nothing, watching Sora leaving in order to find some coconuts. Oh well. Be that as it may. Riku liked coconuts. He really did.
Nearly 40 minutes passed before Sora returned, carrying four coconuts and a sharp rock.
"Haha! Done!" Sora chirped, dropping the coconuts on the ground near Riku, who was now fast asleep.
"Oi! Riku! Wake up!" Sora huffed, shaking Riku slightly. "Nuu! I didn't go away just so you could get your beauty sleep!" A grumpy pout was offered then, followed by a sigh a few moments later.
"Not gonna wake up.. Eh?" The brunette murmured and slumped into a sitting position on the sand himself. Mm. Riku looked so nice like that. The small frown of worry on his forehead was now missing, and his lips weren't pursed. He seemed… really peaceful like that.
And for the first time, Sora really understood the meaning of 'capturing the moment'. He wanted to cherish that calm expression of Riku, to make the vision of his relaxed state more than a memory of his own.. He wanted everyone to see and feel the softness radiating from the usually jerky teen in front of him.
So he did the best he could. Grabbing the sharp rock meant for opening coconuts and a fruit, He cleaned it from the messy fibers and carved a single line that was supposed to be Riku's upper arm.
It wasn't too long before Sora was done. His demi-drawing of sleeping Riku engraved on the hard coconut shell. He snickered. The face was a bit deformed, and the proportions weren't really good.. But the thing that bothered him the most was the fact that he didn't get to grasp that calmness.
A small sigh escaped the brunette's lips as he carved the words 'sleeping Riku' into the shell and threw it off the small island's cliff.
"Hey Riku! Wake uuup!" Sora groaned, shaking Riku roughly until the older boy finally woke up with a tiny scowl.
"Ow. Sora. Try to be more careful next time you're trying to wake me up! You got sand in my clothes!" Riku frowned, standing up and dusting his clothes.
"Mm.. What time is it?.. Seems like afternoon by the sun's place.." Riku stretched after getting rid of all the sand crumbs sticking to him.
"It is. I think it's about three or four in the afternoon now." Sora nodded, hands on his hips as he turned to look at the sun hanging in the sky like a giant bulb of blinding white.
"Anyway! I got up some coconuts!" He smiled triumphantly and quickly rolled the three remaining coconuts into a small pile.
"Well that's good. I'm hungry." Riku nodded and sat next to Sora across the small pile of coconuts.
Sora nodded and reached to clean a coconut from it's fibers, tearing the rough threads and disposing them in a pile near him. Riku did the same, adding his own fibers to Sora's pile.
Soon enough, both Sora and Riku had their share of coconut goodness, drinking up the sweet milk and munching on the white flesh.
"…You want the last coconut?" Sora scrunched his nose. Damn those manners, he really wanted another coconut!.. And was too lazy to get another one anyway.
"Kind of. Yeah.." Riku admitted, picking the last nut up by it's fibers. "You want some too?" He hummed, pointing at the fiber coated nut. Sora nodded with a small defeated sigh.
"Let's share then. I get a half, and you get a half. And we're both happy." He licked his lips and began tearing the messy strands from the fruit, quickly cleaning it and splitting it into two more or less even pieces.
"Say Sora.." Riku hummed thoughtfully as he took a bite of his coconut, chewing on it for a few moments before resuming his words. "Coconuts float.. Right?"
"Right." Sora nodded, taking another generous bite of the coconut's inner white flesh.
"I was thinking.. Maybe you could learn swimming with coconuts? We can make some ropes from the fibers here, and tie them around your waist so you get this coconut tube that helps you to stay up." He tapped his finger against the coconut's pointy edge thoughtfully as he waited for Sora's reply.
"Won't the other kids laugh at me if they saw me like that?.." Sora scowled, crossing his arms, not that he finished his treat, and licked his lips to clean the sweet milk's leftovers.
"That's the whole deal. You get to carry coconuts. Just tell them mom asked you to bring her some from the small island." Riku nodded. "I can get some for myself too if you want, so I can tell them I'm getting some nuts too." He offered a hopeful smile before setting the now empty shell aside, where it rested near the other four he had already finished eating.
"..It actually sounds like a good idea." Sora snickered, arms now supporting him as he leaned back. "I'll get some more a bit later for us both." He smiled playfully and curled his toes in his shoes. "And I get to eat some coconuts when I get back home too!" A small chirp escaped his throat, making Sora blush sheepishly and rub the back of his head.
"Heh. That's good." Riku agreed, dusting his clothes and moving to lie down under the palms shade, feet bent lazily and arms crossed behind his head. Mm. He was starting to feel a bit tired again.. Beh.
Sora sat on the sand beside Riku and kicked his shoes off, letting his toes wiggle freely and chill in the afternoon's air.
"So.."
"So."
"What we do now?" Sora closed his eyes and licked his lips, letting himself relax on the warm sand.
"What you wanna do now? I don't feel like doing anything yet.. Maybe talking." Riku tilted his head slightly and shifted on his back.
"Talking is good.. Erm.. Tell me about your childhood fear then.. I told you about mine." Sora turned his head to look at Riku now, smiling reassuringly. "I promise not to laugh."
"Well… Lessee.. When I was little.. I had this biggest fear of going blind. I once saw this blind man with blank eyes and it really scared me.." Riku murmured quietly, sounding quite thoughtful."I guess it isn't much of a fear like yours.. But I still am scared of losing my eyesight. You know, with me being an artist and all.." He sighed and turned to look at Sora himself, smiling now. "There. Told you about my silly little fear. Happy?" He snickered, sticking his tongue out at the frowning brunette.
"I guess… It's a really weird fear though." Sora remarked, frowning thoughtfully.
"Geez, did you figure it on your own Einstein?" Riku snorted and rolled his eyes. "I already know it's weird. I just can't really get rid of it." He sighed then, turning to look back up at the rays of light filtering through the palm trees wide leaves.
Sora pouted at Riku comment about him pointing out the obvious, but didn't pay much attention to it anyway. His thoughts were concentrated on why Riku's fear of going blind pestered him so much.. Oh well.. Maybe it was just a feeling.
"Mm.. Wanna go and get some coconuts so we can get home before it gets too dark?" Sora decided to sit up now, offering Riku a small nod.
"I guess we should." Riku stretched and stood up himself, dusting his clothes once again.
"First one to get four nuts gets the other to buy him an ice-cream tomorrow?" Sora grinned teasingly, spreading his fingers and slipping his feet inside his shoes once again.
"Sure thing. Meet here after we get the nuts, okay? Ready, set, go!" Riku snickered, springing from his place and quickly making his way towards the small group of palm trees, leaving Sora to taste his dust.
Kukuku. -pokes coconut- x3 -snickers-