The next day, Kairi and Riku came back early in their canoe saying that they wanted to get an early start on building the raft.

"Sora's sleeping in," Riku said before Hikari could ask. "Like you should be."

"I'm fine," she smiled. And it was true. Even though she still couldn't stay in the sun for too long, she'd been feeling stronger by the day ever since she'd started having those dreams. She no longer felt the need to sleep in and she didn't feel weak at all. She felt like she could probably run if she wanted to, but she wasn't going to push herself too much. Not yet, at least.

Riku smiled back as he walked past. "Just don't push yourself too hard."

"Worrywart," she yelled as she started to follow them.

Hours later, Sora arrived on the island, well rested and ready to work.

He found Hikari and Kairi by the raft.

"You have to tell him," Kairi insisted.

"As soon as you tell Sora," Hikari countered, crossing her arms.

"Tell me what?" Sora asked as he approached them. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," Kairi answered quickly as she covered Hikari's mouth just as she was about to answer him. "Why don't you go find Riku? He should be around here somewhere."

"Okay," he said with a shrug.

As soon as he walked away, the girls sighed in unison. "Honestly, he can't know. Not yet at least. But you have to tell Riku. We're leaving soon and you know you're not coming with us. You don't know if you'll ever see us again," Kairi insisted.

"Are you sure you guys will be able to get far on this thing?" Hikari asked gazing at their "vessel" uncertainly. She was trying to change the subject but at the same time, she was truly curious. "Because from the looks of it, you guys won't get more than a few miles out. That is if you're lucky."

Kairi stuck her tongue out at her playfully. "Don't insult the. . . " she frowned. "Shoot, we don't even have a name for it yet."

"You don't," Hikari raised her eyebrows in surprise. "But isn't that bad luck?"

"Yeah." She then glances over to see Riku and Sora talking and looking like they were getting ready for another race. She grinned. "Hey, it looks like they're in the mood to race. Let's go."

Kairi ran over to join them, Hikari was not too far behind. She was walking a lot faster than usual, so when she got there she was a little winded but she smiled in relief and confusion when she realized she wasn't on the brink of collapse. (Yes, her body was just that weak!) So why wasn't she on her knees in the sand?

Had the dreams been doing more for her than she realized?

"You guys at it again?" She heard Kairi say. "All right, I'll be the judge. The usual rules apply. Take any route you want. . . First one to tag that tree and make it back here wins."

They started running quickly over the broken bridge before taking their own individual routes.

"I wonder what they're competing for."

"Probably over who gets to name the boat," Kairi said. "Or something silly like that."

Hikari wondered about that for a moment as she watched Sora nearly win the race, but, at the last second, Riku ran past him.

"Looks like we're naming it Highwind after all," Riku smiled smugly at Sora.

"See? It was the name," Kairi said as she made her way back to the raft.

Something about the way Sora was frowning at Riku told Hikari that it wasn't just that.

After that, Hikari learned how to make a necklace of thalassa shells from Kairi. "But what am I going to do with this thing? I'm not going anywhere," Hikari muttered as she held the completed charm in her hand.

"Give it to Riku when you confess to him," Kairi suggested.

"I'm not going to confess to him," Hikari said softly, cheeks burning

"Aww, why not? You two would look adorable together!"

Hikari sighed. "I can't. At least, not yet. He hasn't been acting right lately."

"I know, but we leave tomorrow morning, you might never see him again."

"No pressure," Hikari joked. "You're right, though. Maybe I should tell him."

"That's the spirit," Kairi would have said more but, when they both saw Sora walking toward them, they fell silent.

The sun was setting beautifully on the horizon as Kairi and Sora walked together onto the dock, sat, and watched the sun's slow descent.

Hikari and Riku sat on the bent tree on the separate island, watching over them. "Hey, do you think they're happy with the way things are now?" Riku asked her all of a sudden. "Do you really think this is a good idea?"

"Stubborn Riku is having second thoughts?" she giggled as he mussed her hair.

"No, you dummy," he grinned. "It's just. . . They seem so happy just to sit there and watch the sunset together. I wonder if, deep down, they really want to leave the island," he paused, "and then there's you."

"Me?" Hikari looked at his sad face, puzzled. "What about me?"

"Isn't it obvious? Sora's going to be miserable without you, Kairi's finally got someone to talk about girl stuff with other than Selphie, and I. . . "

"You what?"

"I'll just miss you, alright?" He said, his eyes fixated on the sunset.

"You're the dummy then," she said hitting him on the back of the head.

"Ow! What?"

"I said you're the dumb one. You're going on a trip that I can only dream about and you're having second thoughts? Riku, I don't know how much longer I have left! It feels like my time is stopped right here on this island. Whenever I'm with the three of you, I never think about the time I have left. Sure, you guys keep reminding me, but even then I'm still happy because I'm with you guys," she stopped. "When you leave, I'll still come here every day. And I'll wait for you to come back. One day, I hope that I'll be able to tell you 'welcome back.'"

This was it. The moment she would give him the charm.

"Riku," she said softly as she pushed her hair away from her face. "I. . . Admire you. You're strong and brave and loyal and honest. And you're just. . . You. And I know that, if we never see each other again, I don't want to regret anything so I just wanted to-"

And then the moment was ruined.

"Sora, let's take the raft and go! Just the two of us!" Kairi said loudly.

They both smiled in amusement when they saw Sora jump at her sudden suggestion. They couldn't see his facial expression but they could imagine what it looked like. Riku turned to Hkari again. "What were you about to say?"

She clutched the charm tightly in her hand as she considered continuing. She would possibly never see him again after the next morning. But instead of handing him the charm, she said, "I just wanted to thank you for always being there for me."

She stood up and turned away from him. "We should go home. You know how my mom worries."

"Yeah," he chuckled. "I remember when she found out you fainted. She ran all the way to the hospital on the other side of the island."

She laughed as she remembered and hoped that he couldn't hear the sadness in her voice. "Yeah, I know."

"You know, even if we haven't known each other for long, it's been great."

"If only we'd met sooner," and she meant that with every ounce of her being as she gazed at the dock where Sora and Kairi still sat. Soon, she would be sitting there waiting anxiously for their safe return.

She could no longer pretend that she was going with them.

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