CHAPTER 2:
A Purpose
"Hey Kairi! What else is left on the list?" I asked as I dropped 3 sticks, a tarp that would be used for the raft's sail, and a rope to hold it together. She scanned the list, "I think that's the last of it! We just need four bottles of water but Sora's getting that, and Riku's got the fish already so we're pretty much almost finished!" I sighed in relief, "Good!" I said as I collapsed onto the sand. Kairi sat down beside me. "Hey Ryu?" "Yeah?" She looked at me and smiled, "Do you think that you'll ever want to come back here once we reach another world?" "Hmmmm..." I looked up at the sky and pondered for a moment. Then I giggled, and said "Yup! This place will always be my home. But of course it wouldn't be home without you guys." We both smiled and laughed. "Yeah," she replied. "I'd want to come back too." "Hey!" A voice called out from behind us. "You lazy bums! Don't we have a raft to build?" Riku said as he walked up behind us. Kairi giggled, "We're already done with our part!" "Yup! We're just waiting for Sora to bring the waters back." I added in. At that moment Sora came running up with four bottled waters. We laughed at the coincidental timing, and then proceeded to move all the supplies to the cave. I tried to act like it was nothing. I mean come on I could put supplies in a cave. It was no big deal, it was just a cave. I picked up the sticks and the tarp, and before I could even take a step towards the cave, Riku stopped me. "Ryu, we got this. Meet us at the front of the beach ok?" I looked directly at my feet. I really appreciated his chivalry, but I wanted to do my part. "Riku I-" "Hey," He put his hands on my shoulders. "It's ok. I know you've been having a hard time with this. We got this, don't worry. Tomorrow we will definitely need your help putting together the raft. We could use your building smarts." I gave a slight giggle and continued to look at my feet on the sand. "Let us do this ok?" He asked. I looked up and stared into his eyes. It's almost like they were pleading with me. "Ok." I gave in. "I'll meet you guys at the front of the beach." I said reluctantly, as I slowly walked way from them and that cave. I know he was just trying to protect me, but I just wish I was strong enough to protect myself.
I had made my way to the front of the beach. I kept walking until I had reached this huge palm tree that had grown close to the ground. It had grown close enough to where you could climb up and sit on it. I pulled myself up on the base of the tree and stared out at the calm, but beautiful ocean. It glimmered with the setting of the sun. It made me smile. I couldn't even count how many times the four of us had climbed onto this tree and stared out at the water. Even before that night; even before Kairi had came to this island, Sora, Riku and I would sit on this palm tree. Suddenly, something Kairi had said flashed through my mind.
"Do you think that you'll ever want to come back here once we reach another world?"
I thought long and hard about that very question. Would I really want to come back here? Something terrible had happened here, but so many wonderful things had happened as well. Before I could make a decision, Sora and Kairi had climbed up and sat beside me, while Riku leaned against the base of the tree. "So," Riku said breaking the silence. "Since we now have all our supplies prepared and stored, I say if we work hard at it, we should have the raft all built by tomorrow!" We all cheered and sighed in relief, happy with the progress we had made. "It's getting that much closer." I said. "We're almost ready to set sail." "Yup!" Riku replied. "I wonder what the other worlds will be like.." Sora said as he threw his arms back in his usual way. "Well I know one thing, we'll never know by staying here." Riku said. "But how far can a raft take us?" Kairi asked. "As far as we need to go." I said and smiled. "We'll get to where we need to go. I'm not sure where that is, but I know it's somewhere we're all meant to be." I brushed the hair out of my face with my hand and stared out at the water. The sun had almost set, and it would be dark soon. The four of us stared at the water admiring the beauty of the sun setting behind the blanket of pure sea. Then I remembered something. I really needed to talk to Lana. "Shouldn't we be getting back soon?" I asked, hoping they would want to leave as well. "Oh yeah! It's getting late!" Sora exclaimed as he jumped off the tree. "Here Kairi!" He said as he helped her down. "Ryu!" Riku reached out his hand for mine. "Let's go! Mom's probably got dinner ready and you know how cranky she gets when we're late." I giggled, and took one last look at the water. "Right!" I said as I took Riku's hand, and followed him back to the pier.
"See you guys tomorrow!" Kairi said as she walked down the path to her house. "Bye Kairi!" We called out as we continued down the path. "Well guys, this is my stop!" Sora said as he reached the gate to his house. "Night Ryu! Riku!" Sora waved as he ran up the steps to his front door. We both smiled and waved as we continued on. "Hey Ryu..." "Yeah Riku?" I asked. He stopped for a second and looked down. "What's wrong Riku? I asked, concerned of what the answer might be. "It's about your mom... and Squall..." He said as he looked up and stared straight into my eyes. "Wha-... What about them?" I asked. I noticed that I could no longer look directly into his eyes. I stared at the gravel beneath me, I didn't want him to see my eyes water. "Ryu... we were there that night." I could no longer hide my eyes. I looked directly at him. "What! Riku... why are you just telling me this now? Why couldn't you tell me before?" He turned, facing the path that led back to the island. "Mom said that I had to wait. Wait until I thought you were ready." "Riku..." I put my hand on his shoulder and turned directly facing him. "I am ready." He looked at me. It was then that he told me what happened, from his point of view.
"I'm pretty sure you were out playing in the water at the back beach with Selphie and Wakka when it happened. Sora and I were playing at the front beach when three men in black cloaks just appeared on the island. They never showed their faces, but I remember their voices. One was very rude, and harsh sounding, while one hardly spoke at all and the other had a deep, hoarse voice. They appeared out of no where. All of the adults were out at the beach at that time, including Lydi... your mom, Ryu." I couldn't stop the tears now. I tried to wipe my eyes as I looked up at Riku. "And Squall?" I asked. He shook his head, "No," he replied. "Lydi sent Squall out to find you when she first saw the men appear. I'm guessing that's when he hid you in that cave on the back beach." I nodded. "What did they want?" He paused, then said. "You... Ryu. They kept interrogating Lydi, asking where you were. She just kept repeating: You'll never find her. Right at that time Squall ran up and hit one of them from behind with a rock he had picked up. The man turned and laughed and started walking toward him. That's when Lydi..." He stopped. "She was trying to protect her children, Ryu. I don't think I should go any further than that..." I started to shake. I tried my best to regain my composure as I asked, "And Squall? What happened to him?" Riku looked at me with immense sympathy in his eyes. "They... They took him Ryu." I couldn't control it anymore. The tears raced down my face and I started to cry out "Why? Why him? He didn't do anything!" Riku grabbed my arm and pulled me into a tight embrace. I couldn't stop myself. I immediatly held on to him and cried as hard as I could into his shoulder. "Why?" I cried, gasping for air. "Why did I have to lose everything?" I cried some more onto his shoulder. I felt his hand began to stroke my hair. "That's not true Ryu. You have three best friends who care about you very much." He paused. "I... care about you very much." I looked up into his eyes. He laughed, "You know, I don't know what I would do if we hadn't found you that day Ryu. In a way, you saved me." I felt my eyes grow wide as I pressed my face against his chest. "Riku.." He began to stroke my hair some more. "It's ok. You don't have to say anything." I held on to him as tight as I had ever held on to anyone. I didn't want to let go. I just wanted us to stay like this... forever.