Hope we all enjoy!
Disclaimer: Dunno if I ever told you this- don't own. Am making no money. Etc.
Sora sighed happily, closing his eyes. Already, his day was looking up!
"Sora?" Sora nearly yelped, surprised. He opened his eyes to see Riku standing over him.
"Riku? That was fast." Sora said, sliding off the couch and standing up. "Ready to go? The girls promised snacks."
"Fast? It took me fifteen minutes." Riku said, raising an eyebrow. "Couldn't find my swim trunks, so I'm not going swimming."
"That's fine- we'll probably be hanging out on the sand most of the time anyway."
"Then lets' go." Both boys left the apartment, Riku locking it shut behind them.
Some Time Later
The girls had gotten everything set up- with the help of Roxas- by the time Sora and Riku arrived.
"Sora! Riku! So glad to see you could come!" Kairi said, smiling. Namine smiled.
"She just wanted to show off her new bikini." Namine said. "But I am glad to see you. It's so nice to be together again!"
"That's new?" Sora asked, glancing at what Kairi was wearing. Sure enough, he couldn't remember seeing the small pink bikini on his friend before. Or that pink, flower-patterned sarong.
"Looks great on you Kairi." Riku said. The redhead giggled.
"Thanks. Namine and I made your favorites- at least I hope we did."
"I helped." Roxas said quietly, slightly offended that he hadn't been included. Namine turned her smile at him.
"We know you did- you did great!"
Sora's stomach growling could be heard over Namine's words. Riku laughed.
"Looks like it's time to eat- apparently Sora didn't fill each of his three stomachs during breakfast."
"I'm a growing boy! I can't help but be hungry..." Sora said. The five teens got out small plastic plates and utensils, moving around the small table Roxas had no doubt set up, and grabbed food. Riku loaded up on chips and salsa, happy to see that the girls had remembered which was his favorite, and grabbed a hotdog. Sora grinned at the sight of cucumber slices and ranch, grabbing those as well as a hamburger and a hotdog on which he piled ketchup. The girls grabbed some of the vegetables and dip, Namine grabbing a cheeseburger and Kairi a hotdog. Roxas took for himself a cheeseburger and some chips with just a bit of the mild salsa to the side. Meals complete, they grabbed soda to top it all off and sat down on some handy logs just a few feet from the table.
"It's great to see you so happy Riku." Kairi said, biting into a celery stalk.
"Yeah, you seemed kinda distant yesterday." Roxas added, munching on a chip.
"Was I?" Riku asked. He shrugged nonchalantly, picking up his hotdog. "Maybe a bit. I was just worried about you guys I guess..."
"What about us worried you?" Namine asked, opening her soda with a satisfying 'pop'.
"Since I gave into darkness and tried to hurt Sora, I didn't know if I'd still be accepted." Riku said simply. Knowing what he did now, Sora could easily tell what else Riku meant- he might not be accepted by heaven any more.
'And he wasn't- poor Riku.' Sora said, eyes sad as he bit into his hamburger. He chewed thoughtfully, then swallowed and spoke.
"Riku, no matter what happens, you will always be our friend. Well, my friend at least." Instantly, the others chimed in and assured Riku that he was always welcome with them. Riku smiled slightly, then turned to Sora and his smile widened in thanks.
'How did he know just what I needed to hear?' Riku asked himself. For a while afterwards, the only sound heard was content munching on food.
"Okay- who feels like swimming?" Kairi asked, throwing her trash away in the trash bag she had had Roxas bring for that purpose.
"Didn't wear my trunks- couldn't find them." Riku said, taking the bag from Kairi and tossing his garbage out.
"I'll swim!" Sora said, jumping up. "I haven't been swimming in ages!"
"I'll swim next time." Roxas said.
"I can keep you and Riku company." Namine offered. "And I can help clean up."
"So Sora and I are the only ones swimming?" Kairi asked, a bit put out.
"We can race." Sora offered.
"You'll just beat me again- you know I can't swim as fast as you."
"Ten second head start?" Riku suggested. "I can be the judge."
"Sorry to break up your little party, but I need to talk to Riku for a moment." Riku stiffened at the sound of the new but familiar voice. One by one, they all turned to look at the new arrival, Riku glaring at him.
"Do we know you?" Namine asked, puzzled. Axel laughed.
"No- but Riku and I go way back, don't we?" Axel smirked.
"Want me to come with you?" Sora asked his silver-haired friend quietly. Riku shook his head, keeping his eyes trained on Axel.
"I'll be fine- stay here." Riku whispered back. "Yeah- everyone, this is Axel. I'll be right back." he added, louder.
"Remember, you have to judge mine and Sora's race!" Kairi said. No one but Sora seemed to notice the tension between Riku and the red-haired man.
"Yeah, Riku, wouldn't want to be late for that." Axel said sarcastically. Riku forced a smile as he marched up to Axel, forcibly turning the angel around and marching away from Sora and his friends. As soon as they were far enough away from his friends, he released Axel and leapt into the air, landing a few feet away from the angel. Riku turned and faced him, getting ready to summon his weapon should the need arise.
"Wasn't that brown-haired kid the audience of our last battle? How'd you explain that one?" Axel asked lazily, arms resting casually at his sides.
"Why are you here?" Riku asked. Axel looked thoughtful for a moment, but he was obviously mocking Riku.
"Hmm... let's see... maybe I'm here to complete my assignment?" With a smirk, Axel summoned his two throwing blades, instantly lighting them with flames. Riku summoned Way to the Dawn in response, falling into a defensive stance. Axel had been extremely fast- Riku hadn't been prepared last battle, but now he knew a bit more about Axel's fighting style.
"Burn baby burn!" Axel laughed, throwing first one and then the other weapon at Riku. Riku jumped up, doing a somersault in midair and slashing down at his opponent as he landed. Instantly, he rolled, effectively dodging the flaming weapons as they returned to Axel's hands.
"Seems you've improved." Axel said nonchalantly, catching his blades and wincing as the effort of catching pulled on his brand-new shoulder wound, courtesy of Riku. "Then let's try this." With that as warning, Axel rushed forward and began a series of deadly slashing attacks with the flaming blades, catching Riku off-guard with the graceful but powerful combo. Riku blocked, but he felt the shock of each one travel up his arms and the fire- when the flames got close enough to his skin- burned. They came to a standstill with Axel leaning heavily on his blades, trying to force them down to rake through Riku's chest. Riku kept Way to the Dawn in between himself and Axel, straining with the effort.
Suddenly, Axel lessened the pressure and- in Riku's resulting loss of balance- aerial backflipped to land a good six feet away from Riku.
Breathing heavy, Riku kept his eyes trained on Axel and settled into a defensive stance again.
Axel blitzed in, darting around Riku to the teens unprotected back. Riku quickly adjusted his grip on his weapon, spinning with the blade out in hopes to catch Axel. Axel jumped, the blade missing him by less than an inch. Riku followed Axel into the air, bringing the blade down onto Axel's front as the angel spun to try and hit Riku. Their blades met with the shreik of metal, neither wanting to give in. Just before hitting the ground, they sprang apart, shooting to opposite sides of their 'battlefield'. Riku regarded Axel closely. Something seemed off in their battle- almost like Axel wasn't taking it seriously.
"What are you up to?" he asked the angel. Axel smirked confidently.
"What makes you think-" he threw his blades, one after the other. "- that I'm up to something?" Riku blocked one of the weapons, surprised, and dodged the other. Axel leapt after his blades, catching them easily and redirecting them at Riku. Riku had no time to dodge- one grazed his shoulder while the other bit into his calf. He dropped to one knee, rolling when he heard the gentle 'whoosh' caused by the displacement of air as Axel fell towards him, blades already returned to his hand. Axel struck the sandy ground where Riku would have been. Calmly, Axel stood and twirled his flaming weapons in his hands.
"This is much better than our last fight- what changed?" Axel asked.
"Not about to tell you." Riku said, leaping to his feet and catching a very surprised redhead in the side. Way to the Dawn cut deep across Axel's mid-section. Axel hissed and dropped his weapons, barely remembering to leap back to avoid Riku's secondary attack. He called his wings, flapping frantically for a second to stay aloft and out of Riku's reach.
"Whoa... that was unexpected. Time to end this, I think." Axel lifted his hands above him, a huge fireball forming between them. Tired and still bleeding, Riku didn't have time to dodge as the fireball caught his square in the chest, knocking him back against a palm tree. Riku's breath left him in a hiss, Way to the Dawn dropping out of his hand. He slid down the trunk, leaning against it helplessly as he tried to catch his breath.
Axel dropped to the ground in front of Riku, walking slowly towards him and still favoring his stomach even though the wound was closing.
"Now that's what I call a fight." Axel said, wiping a gloved hand across his forehead to rid it of sweat and smiling. Still trying to catch his breath, Riku just glared at Axel. He seemed offended.
"Hey- what did I do to deserve such a look?" The pyro mock-shivered. "I guess cold, frosty glares are your specialty, huh? I'm freezing here." Shrugging it off, Axel collected his weapons and inspected them for damages. Riku watched him, confused.
'Something odd is going on here...' Axel was acting strangely- Riku had been defeated, and this was a perfect opportunity to behead the once-angel- so why was Axel looking over his weapons?
"Well, my job here is done." Axel said, turning his back to Riku and opening a dark portal.
"Where are you going?" Riku asked, confused. Not to say he wasn't grateful that his life was spared, but he wanted to know why.
"I'm going back to the base. I mean, I killed the dangerous criminal Riku, didn't I? And watch it-" Axel said, turning to face the silver-haired teen. "- corpses don't talk to angels."
"Why?" Riku asked, getting to his feet.
"Why didn't I kill you, you mean? Well, truth is a powerful motivator- and it'd be a bad idea to kill the one who told me. Consider us even."
"Be careful- if Xemnas finds out that you know, you could end up..." Riku made a waving motion to indicate himself, and his lack of wings.
"Noted. I'll let Organization XIII know of your demise, then I'll probably disappear too in a few weeks- they make shitty employers and their salary and hazard pay is crap." Axel stepped through the portal, waving goodbye to Riku over his shoulder.
"Thank you, Axel." Riku said as the portal disappeared.
A/N: So- who was expecting that? Sorry if they were OOC! Thanks to all my reviewers- and sorry I didn't get this out earlier. I was at Anime Expo! Hope you all liked it- the next should be out soon!