a/n: wow it's been quite a while since I did this, sorry to xoxReneeOrionxox for delaying on this for so long...

Cactus

Sora stared at the door nervously, his hand trembling as he reached for the doorknob.

"You going to be okay Sora?"

He looked back at Kairi and Riku and smiled, "of course, she's my mother after all."

Riku nodded, "so you won't mind if me and Kairi go back? After all, I got my own parents to meet."

Sora nodded again, "sure."

They said their farewells and left, it wasn't long after they left that they heard the door open, a crash followed a woman yelling "SORA YOU CAME BACK!"

Kairi smiled, "I guess Sora and his mom are getting on well."

The two continued to walk down the street, Kairi glanced at Riku, "Hey don't you want to go and meet your parents now?"

The silver-haired teen shook his head, "nah, not right now…"

She nodded slowly, "okay…so where do you want to go now?"

He shrugged, "wanna go down to the beach?"

"Sure."

As they sat down on the beach, they were greeted by the harsh wind of the sea. Kairi shivered but remained quiet as Riku gazed out at the horizon.

"Remember that raft we built a year ago?"

She nodded, "yep…why?"

"You think it's still there?"

"Not really, I mean, I have a feeling it broke."

He chuckled, "I guess so…" he glanced at the red head, "but if we went down and found out it was still there would you want to use it?"

She shrugged "maybe…after all, I didn't explore as much as you and Sora."

"Would you go with only me?"

She looked up at Riku in surprise; he didn't look at her but continued to gaze out at the sea.

"Huh?"

He smiled, "never mind, guess wherever we go, we have to bring that nincompoop along."

She grinned nervously, "yeah…"

A unsettling silence fell around them, not that Riku seem to notice, the wind became much colder and Kairi shivered visibly.

Riku noticed this and moved up to her, he reached out and held her hand. She blushed and stared at him, "R-Riku?"

"You feel warmer now?"

Embarrassed, she stared out at the sea and shuffled closer to Riku, "yeah I guess…"

'Maybe it wouldn't be so bad going to sea with Riku…after all, if I get cold, he'll keep me warm…'

a/n: many thanks to dusk who gave me all the lovely reviews, for a while I thought no one liked this

Cactus means endurance and warmth.