I chucked a towel at the soggy ball of excitement beaming up at me from the floor. "Dry yourself off, already. We don't need you getting sick."

It landed across his face and he snatched it up, his smile unflinching. He also hadn't been able to sit still the entire time he has been here. I started rummaging around, hoping to find a change of clothes for him since he was apparently in too much of a hurry to stop off at home before heading off to the castle. I know he had some stuff over here, but where did it get buried?

As I dug through the drawer I heard him flop back onto the floor, laughing in an absolute giddy fit with his feet kicking around. I almost wanted to tease him, but it definitely wouldn't be right to ruin a mood this happy. Yet, as excited I was for him, I felt a little unease sitting like a rock at the bottom of my stomach. I yanked out a set of his clothes and chucked them over.

"Here. Get changed and give me some details."

Honestly, you can't just come bursting through my door, soaking, practically bouncing off the walls and proclaiming you 'finally did it' and leave it there. I have quite a few guesses, considering the context, but the water still had me a little baffled.

"What happened, you professed your love for Kairi, she rejected you and then shoved you off the dock?"

He sat back up and glanced down at his wet clothes, laughing, doing his best to ruffle his hair through the towel. "Not exactly...I don't really know where to start, though. Everything is just so...crazy."

I waited, figuring he would manage to put his thoughts together eventually. He dropped back down to the ground with a sigh.

"Riku...she was so soft...and she smelled amazing."

That awful twinge in my stomach again. "Hold on, are you saying you...did you kiss her?"

He smiled brilliantly, jumping back up to his feet and poking me in the face, on my lower cheek. "Right there!"

I swatted his arm away, scoffing. "And that's when she pushed you in the water, right?"

"No, the water is from the sprinkler fight I started." He said this so simply as if it was so obvious it didn't even need an explanation.

I shook my head, deciding not to ask. "How did she take it, then?"

He went to go sit on the bed but I quickly pulled him off, not wanting to get my blankets wet. He apologized and laughed again. "I...kinda ran away afterwards. But she was smiling!"

"I can't believe you are so excited about a childish kiss like that. You seriously ran away?"

"I don't care, it was totally worth it." He started punching triumphantly into the air. "Now they can't tease me anymore, ha!"

I doubt that. Despite his vigor, I could tell he was starting to calm down a little. Still obviously flying high but getting more comfortable about it. "Anything else happen I should know about?"

"Ah...well..." Something hesitant, serious, brushed across his features. I crossed my arms and examined him closely. It wasn't like him to get that look. Not unless…

I joined him on the floor. "Tell me."

"I need to go talk to Ven and the others. Kairi said that she's been getting followed. By...uh..."

I swore and Sora winced. I know he hates it when I do that but it just slipped out. "I'm sorry, I should have told you earlier. Roxas warned me that guy's been stalking around Twilight Town for a few weeks."

"Wha-really? Why didn't he say anything to me?"

"I think we were both hoping we wouldn't have to bother you with it. I hadn't noticed anything here so I thought it was clear. Punk must have been specifically dodging around us."

Sora fidgeted, his hands on his feet. "Um...can I ask you a favor about it?"

"Anything."

"I'm hoping Ven can let me know what's going on. But until I get back I was hoping you could, you know..."

I held up my hand and nodded wordlessly. "Nothing will happen to her, I promise you that."

He grinned, but I shot him a warning glance. "Just keep in mind, Roxas said he already spoke to them a while back. You might not learn anything too useful."

His smile faltered and he pulled the towel down off his head. "Maybe not...but they need to know."

He was definitely upset about this, and I don't blame him. "I'll let you get changed. Are you heading straight out?"

"Yeah, basically." He started struggling to pull his damp shirt off over his head, got stuck and tumbled backwards.

While he was sorting himself out, I went out to the kitchen and turned on the water kettle to make him some hot cocoa before he left. I also felt like I needed to take a breather. It was hard not to be happy for him, seeing the joy sprouting out from him over such a small thing. But this was also very bad. It meant I didn't have much time to sort things out in my head. If this was really the direction things were moving in…

I smacked my fist down hard on the counter, rattling the spoon in the mug. I'll just have to talk to him tomorrow when he gets back. I waited for the kettle to boil and poured some water into the powder, mixing it up thoroughly. He came bounding excitedly into the kitchen to see what I made. I handed it over to him and he sipped it right away, spluttering. Burned his tongue yet again.

He frowned at me. "You made it with water..."

"If you want it done differently, do it yourself."

He grumbled, blowing on the top. I know he always preferred it with milk, but it was definitely far too rich that way. The last thing I wanted was for him to have a sugar crash while he's flying. I recalled that we did still have some marshmallows in the cabinet from when he stays over and fished them out, dropping a couple into his cup to his delight. A few couldn't hurt that badly.

"I still don't get why you don't like these, either." Sora mumbled, poking at the melting sugar lump with his spoon.

I kept blowing at my mug, noting the temperature was still too hot to drink. "Texture is weird."

"You're weird." He laughed, trying to sip it again but failing due to the heat. "Mind if I take this with me?" He lifted the mug up a bit, gesturing to it with his free hand.

"Nah, it's your mug anyway."

He gave it a look over. "Oh yeah, I guess it is."

As if I would have a fat chocobo mug...

"Thanks for your help, Riku. I'll be back tomorrow." He started rushing for the door as fast as one can while carrying an un-lidded beverage.

"Spoon!" I shouted after him.

He pulled it out of the mug, licked it off with a wince and threw it at me with a laugh. I ducked, letting it clatter into the sink behind me. I straightened in time to see him whip around the corner. As he disappeared, it felt like he sucked the light out of the room with him. I slumped down at the table with a sigh, prodding at the surface of my drink with my spoon listlessly. I shouldn't have bothered making some for myself. I'm definitely not in the mood for sugar.

Kairi balanced along the stone sea wall, keeping her eye focused on the boats jostling around for position out in the open water. Her sundress fluttered against the breeze and I hastily turned my head the other way, just in case.

"It's been a while since it's just been the two of us, hmm?" She smiled, and I nodded wordlessly back, listening to her sandals making a light pitter-patter on the stone.

Suddenly, the sound stopped. I lifted my eyes to see her stooped, staring down at me. "You concentrating? Worried about crossing him? I really don't think he's going to show his face today."

"He'd better not."

She giggled and prodded me. "Oh come on, lighten up grumpy head."

I just frowned at her, which for some reason only made her laugh even more. "We should have fun today! It's less than a week before the festival starts, then it's the final push the next few days so this is probably the last bit of free time we'll have." She waggled her finger at me. "And I don't intend to spend it moping around, letting the threat of a certain dark storm cloud rain on it all."

"What did you want to do, then?"

She leapt off the wall and grabbed onto my arm, dragging me forward a few steps before releasing me to do a quick spin. "Anything! Everything!"

I could tell she was also seemingly drunk on happiness like Sora was last night, bouncing with every step. In the end, he hadn't really told me very much about what happened between the two of them. But I suppose my knowing wouldn't change a thing. Those two were going to drift together no matter what. Their fates were always going to be aligned, pulling each other closer until they inevitably collided. The rate now, however, was only exponentially quickening, leaving me feeling like I was swimming hopelessly against a rip tide.

Still, it couldn't hurt to try teasing her about it a bit. "Sora told me something interesting last night."

"Hmm…? Did he now?" Kairi lightly swayed from one foot to the other, hands held together behind her back.

It seemed like she didn't want to talk about it, so I decided to make my moves carefully. "Did he really try to fight you with a sprinkler?"

"Uh-huh..." She gave a mock evil laugh. "The foolish boy! Thought he could beat me! Me! The..." She trailed off, frowning and spinning back to look at me. "What would I be called?"

"...if you were evil?"

"No, not evil!" She rolled her eyes. "Just a nickname that makes me sound powerful. I'll tell you what, let's come up with one for each other." Her eyes twinkled and made it clear that she was far too excited by this idea to let me talk her out of it.

I furrowed my brow. "Fine. I'll need some time to think."

"Fair enough! But I'd better have one soon."

We walked together along the path. Despite some previous murmurs about rain in the weather reports, the sun was definitely cooperating today. That didn't really do anything to ease the gloom I felt nipping my heels with every step. She leaned over and nudged me in the side.

"Hey Grumblebee, that face just won't do at all!"

I blinked back at her as stoically as possible. "Is that my nickname, then?"

"It wasn't going to be...but I actually really like it now that I've said it out loud."

Seriously? A bug? I remained silent and hoped my face wouldn't give away how I actually felt about it. If she knew I didn't like it she'll definitely be teasing me with it all day. There's a slim chance it might work and she'll attempt something else.

"Yep! Definitely fits you!" She cheered.

Lovely. So much for that chance.

"Hmm, so grumbles, what's going on in that head of yours? Maybe we should get your mind working on other things." She gave my forehead a playful tap and I just sighed.

"And how are we going to do that?"

She slipped through the nearby gate and made her way down the sandy hill towards the shore, dropping herself down onto the side of the dune. She patted the sand next to her and I sat down, staring out across the water. Once I was in position, she pulled her purse up to her side and rifled through it, withdrawing some threads and her current cross-stitch project. It was so far from being completed at this stage that just looking it over I had no idea what it was going to be.

"For starters, you are going to be my string assistant. It's a very important job, so be careful!"

I took the bundles of threads hesitantly. "And then what?"

She immediately chastised me, reaching over. "No, you need to hold the ends here! Like this..." She adjusted the strings in my hand, wrapping the ends around my fingers to keep them separated. As she brushed past me, I caught scent of her hair. It was nicely familiar, sweet and tart, and instantly made me a little curious about what I smelled like to her.

To me, she was very comforting. Back when I was fighting my way out of the darkness, her smell—well, Namine's specifically, was the first one that wasn't tainted with that...putrescence. Everything there in that awful place had such a pungent odor of rust, or mold, or...blood, maybe. But when I found Sora again; when I found my hope again...her scent reminds me of that time all over again.

At least this time I'm not going to make the mistake of pointing it out to her.

"There!" She leaned back, admiring her handiwork of twisted strings wrapped around my hands, rendering them completely useless. I considered telling her this wasn't exactly a practical thing to do when I'm supposed to be protecting her from potential danger but she would probably get upset with me for bringing it up again.

She flicked her head back triumphantly. "Okay, so now we get to play a little game. A thinking game. Is that alright?"

I lifted my trapped hands. "What else can I do? I'm tied up."

"Ten questions! You're guessing."

"Shouldn't I get twenty?"

"You're too good to get twenty. Ten makes it much more challenging and I can actually win." She deepened her voice slightly dramatically. "Choose your poison, Grumblebee, and we will begin!"

How can I take that seriously? "Alright. I pick animals."

She considered this a moment, nodded, and got her needle out to begin working at her cross stitch while we played. "I've got one. Ready for your first question."

"Mammal?"

"Nope!"

"Bird?"

"No..."

"Fish."

She smiled deviously. "Nooo."

"Reptile?"

"Ohh...darn, yeah. You'll probably get it now."

Okay, now that I've at least narrowed it down to a type I can ask a few more pointed questions. Let's try something a little more out of the box. "Would one be able to climb a tree?"

She wasn't expecting this question, and smiled as she pondered it. "I doubt it. That would be pretty funny to see, though."

There's no way she would pick something as simple as a turtle, but I might as well eliminate that. "...is it known for being rather slow?"

She grumbled a little, pulling at her threads. "Yeah..."

Wow, alright. "You'd need to pick a harder animal than a turtle if you want to win."

"Well, I was trying to start off easy. You wanna play hardball, then let's dance!" Her eyes flashed at me. I always liked it when she got feisty; it made things interesting.

After several rounds, though, it was clear she wasn't going to win one over on me. And just restricting it to five questions would have been impossibly unfair. As we sat together, I noticed in the corner of my eye a group of travelers who were definitely new to the islands. They were pointing out a few landmarks, carrying one of those maps Selphie's crew had designed to lead tourists around. I watched carefully. This was one of the downsides of reconnecting everything. Tourists, and the slow erosion of our private, special places. We gained freedom, so it's wrong to say being connected is entirely problematic, but it does leave a certain lingering dissatisfaction in the back of my mind when I see them trampling around.

At least Selphie had designated our special island as private, at my request. I had always grown up believing it would be ours forever. Or, at least, until we decided to pass it on to others somehow. But I wasn't quite ready to let it be overrun with strangers just yet.

One of the two caught sight of us and glanced at his map, joy spreading over his features. He waved at us, nudging his companion to look. His companion grabbed a camera and quickly snapped a photo of us. Despite me trying to block my face with my arm, he probably still got me.

Kairi tutted a little and adjusted my hands back down. "I already told you to be careful. You'll mess up the threads."

I said nothing, glowering at the tourist until he shrank away. Kairi bumped me with her shoulder and waved back peacefully at them as they slowly ambled off, staring intently back at their map.

"You'll have to get used to the fact that you're at least somewhat famous. People taking your picture is naturally going to be a part of that."

"But I don't have to like it."

"True...but it would really make your fan club's day if you started participating even a little."

I hate that fan club. Always chasing me, screaming, throwing an absolute fit any time I do so much as cut my hair. Who gets that mad over a haircut? It'll grow back.

She shrugged and pulled another thread through the cloth. "You could always have some fun with it, like Sora does."

I laughed a little, thinking about all the stupid pictures he's posed for. I've been keeping a few of the better ones as potential blackmail material for when he gets older.

She hummed, her eyes picking out the small black equipment bag I had brought with me that was now resting in the sand at my feet. "It's just funny. Ironic, maybe? You have sort of embraced it as your hobby but you absolutely hate being a subject."

"There's a big difference between the two. Besides, if I'm holding a camera I'm not going to be in the picture."

She tipped her head to the side. "Sure, but it would be nice to get a good one of you sometime. Selphie's always bugging me to sneak a camera out and snap one but it doesn't feel right. Plus you know how I am with taking pictures."

To be fair, she's not too bad. "You can't be any worse than Sora. Of that whole roll of film I gave him, inexplicably two thirds of it was of a thumb."

"Or some vague green smudge." She giggled and grabbed the threads off my hands, clutching them in hers. "Can I get a photo today? Please? I've been trying to make some memory collages and it's starting to get frustrating just getting Namine to draw you in everything."

She looked at me with those begging eyes. It's almost as bad as Sora sometimes. "If I agree, what's in it for me?"

She bit her lip, concentrating. "Um..." Yeah, Sora might jump to the moon and back for a little peck on the cheek but I'm a little more complicated than that. She's gonna actually have to barter with me. "Maybe I could..."

I decided to be straightforward and set out my demands clearly. "You'll give me some clues about the festival tomorrow."

She gasped. "You really want to figure it out, don't you?"

"Consider it like twenty questions. It's a puzzle I want to solve."

"Hmm...one the one hand, a nice picture. On the other...you might uncover my special secret. I don't know, doesn't seem very fair to me." She squished her mouth to the side, waiting for me to haggle with her.

"Fine. How about I give you a photography lesson first, and then..." I dug through my bag and pulled out one capsule of film. "You get whatever is on this film to take pictures, but only this film."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "And how many photos are on there?"

I gave her a sly smile. "Who knows? At least one, I promise that." I actually wasn't quite sure myself. Maybe not the safest bet, but I was fairly certain it was around five or so.

She kicked her legs a bit in frustration. "Ooh! You always drive such a hard bargain! I'll agree to give you one clue for every two pictures I get on there. If there's three or less you'll only get one clue. And no complaining about whatever pictures I want to take!"

Using my own gamble against me, hmm? "Alright, but to be clear, if there is only one photo I still get at least one clue." I held out the film canister and she stared at it with a bit of trepidation. "If you take this from me you accept."

"Deal!" She snatched it from my fingers. "So...how do I see how many pictures I can take?"

"Let me check." I pulled open the lid and examined the size of the roll. Hmm. Looks like it's six. One more than I was expecting, but at least an even number makes things easier for my deal with her, too. "You've got six."

She seemed pretty pleased with this. "Okay, three clues isn't too bad. I'll give them to you at the end of today. Otherwise you'll just try to find some loophole to ruin my pictures somehow."

"Hey, a deal is a deal. I'm not going to sabotage you."

She must have accepted my word because she relaxed and started eagerly eyeing my bag. "I get a free lesson first, right?"

I nodded, fishing out the camera. "What did you want to practice on? The settings really depend on the type of pictures you are trying to take."

She hesitated a little. "Practicing...won't count towards my six, right?"

"Of course not. I'm not out to trick you."

Scooping my camera happily up into her arms she glanced up and down the beach for potential subjects. "Okay, well, I want to take pictures of people."

"Not flowers?"

She paused. "Well...a picture of a flower is nice, but then you can't smell it or touch it like a real flower. I like getting pictures of people, it is a nice way to capture memories."

"Posed or action shots?"

"Um...probably more action? I don't really like posed pictures. They feel too...artificial. I'd want to remember a silly face someone is making more than a nicely framed one. Then I can remember someone as they were."

It made sense that she would feel that way, but it surprised me at how similarly we thought. "That's...exactly why I started taking pictures, actually."

"We could make a great scrap booking team! Next time I come over to your house we're going to go through your pictures!"

I hesitated. That was...a little sudden. Besides, how was I going to explain all of those subtle pictures I took of her to tease Sora with? There was nothing better than slipping some candid shot of her laughing or playing tennis into his locker cubby for him to find unexpectedly between classes and watch him have to scramble for an excuse as to why he just yelled and turned red in the middle of the hallway. I'm definitely going to have to hide that one bikini shot…

I shook my head to clear it. "I'll think about it. For now at least it's good you are interested in the same kinds of pictures. That way we don't have to change many of the settings."

Unfortunately for her, there wasn't anyone else really on the beach at the moment for her to practice on. Those two tourists had long since gone, so the only other moving subject were the sailors drifting lazily about in the water ahead of us. I pointed them out to her. "Okay, let's just practice on those boats over there. Pick your subject, and try to frame it in the view finder, here."

She searched the boats until she saw one she liked- a zippy red one with a bright yellow lightning stripe down the side. "That one should be fun to follow." She giggled. "Reminds me of Sora, a little. If he was a sailboat..."

"He'd probably enjoy being a sailboat, honestly." I scoffed. "Though with the amount of times he falls in the water I doubt the boat would be very sea-worthy."

She lowered the camera and stuck out her tongue at me. "It's not fair to make fun of him when he isn't here, you know. Does this mean you and him talk about me all the time when I'm gone?"

Honestly considering yesterday, the last time we spoke, our conversation was almost exclusively him talking about her. But she definitely doesn't need to know that. "You know how he is, just chats about whatever is on his mind, even if it's something unexpectedly weird."

She considered this for a moment. "Can I try? Um...if you had to be an inanimate object, what would you be?"

"What kind of question is that? What would you be?"

"A watering can."

"Right..." I don't know how she was able to come up with such a fitting answer so quickly, but there it was. "You know I'm not good with stuff like this, you'll have to pick for me."

She hummed a bit, before clapping happily. "You'd be an umbrella." Before I could ask, she was already launching into an explanation for me. "Because it always does its best to shelter people from the cold rain, and when it's all dark and stormy you'll always be glad to have one. You're very dependable like that."

That fit...better than I expected it to. I certainly didn't feel all that dependable lately, though. If only I could field my thoughts to her without just spilling it all out. She meanwhile was sitting there giving me a look. Probably she thinks I was troubled by the compliment. While it's true I have never been too comfortable with receiving them, that's not exactly the case here. Still, better keep her off the scent for now. I nodded hesitantly, thanking her. She smiled and gave me a pat on the shoulder, that look of hers dissipating.

"Okay! Let's get started!" She stood up, lifting the view finder to try and frame the boat properly. I leaned over her shoulder to check, my hands over hers to help keep them steady. She leaned back into me, trying to give me a better view through the small window. "Is this okay?"

"Yeah..." I smiled a little to myself, wondering how jealous Sora would be if he saw me right now, basically wrapped around her. I helped her track her subject, pointing out when it would be properly framed and she tried taking the shot. Once it seemed like she had the basics solid enough, I gave her some more in depth information that I had picked up from my practice about how to set up the angle, get good contrast and other trickier factors. It helped that she was a fairly quick learner.

She checked over her trial pictures and immediately jumped at a chance to try again. She pointed over to a deep green colored one, sailing off calmly to the side. "Let's try that one this time, because it reminds me of you." She giggled and lifted up the camera, trying to frame it properly. I lowered her arm, and guided her through it again.

After this series of photos, she abruptly spun the camera around to face us. "So, how would I go about taking a picture of us like this?"

I instinctively tried to release her and back away from the camera but she death gripped my arm. "Hey! I said no complaining about my photos! I get six, and I want one with us together."

Despite her struggle against it I was able to wiggle away from her. "A picture with me holding you like that would be...inappropriate."

"Why?" She furrowed her brow, clearly upset. "Riku, you're so insecure. It's fine for you to be seen showing emotions, you know."

I think she's missing the issue. It's not my emotions that would be inappropriate. I can't even imagine how hurt Sora would be to see a picture like that of us two.

She sighed and flicked the zipper on my jacket. "Okay, okay. No hugging. But I can get one with us together, right?"

"...Yeah."

Brightening, she hummed and grabbed up her purse, still holding the camera close. "So Mr. Photo Wiz, lead me somewhere with good lighting! I want my first picture of us for the scrapbook."

I took a look up at the clouds and the location of the sun. "Anywhere is fine, it just depends on the angle. Go wherever you like."

She pondered this, gently tilting her head back and forth. "Do you mind if we go to our island?"

I was actually quite glad at the suggestion. We made our way to our boats and started untying them from the dock, another group of tourists passing as we did so. I watched them cautiously but Kairi jostled me again, whispering under her breath.

"Come on, don't be rude."

I relaxed my face, trying to shift it into a neutral smile at her behest. I guess it didn't go very well, as Kairi was trying to stifle back another giggle. One of the older men in the group waved at me, waddling over with a paper clenched in his hand. "You there! We seem to be a bit turned around. Where are the docks with the boats to the citrus groves?"

I glanced down at his map. "This is the south dock, here. You need to head up the coast that way and get on the west side. That's...this part there." I prodded the correct spot with my finger. He didn't seem to understand, so I traced the path out for him again, more slowly this time.

He blinked, and pointed in the opposite direction at the library symbol. "This way here?"

I struggled to keep a bland service-like smile on my face but I could feel the corners of my lip twitching. This guy..."No. West. This way."

He laughed heartily at his mistake and patted me on the shoulder, startling me. "Thank you, young man." He gave Kairi an overly exaggerated wink as she stood there, smiling into her hand. "I'll not keep your date from you any longer young lady."

She flushed a little and stumbled back a step. "A-ah...um, that's..."

He laughed in a way I can only really describe as some mix between a chortle and a snort and ushered his group off with him, leaving us both awkwardly standing next to the boats. I sighed heavily and returned to untying mine, hoping Kairi would join me in simply pretending none of this ever happened. Thankfully she seemed a bit too flustered to tease me about anything. I finished first then reached over to help her pull her boat off its mooring.

On the way over as we paddled, I noticed she was going rather slow, glancing up at the clouds above us. I checked as well. Didn't look like a storm was coming at all. I'll make sure to get my weather reports from somewhere else next time. I let my speed drop until she drifted along next to me.

She kept her eyes fixated on the clouds, resting her oar down on her lap. "Riku? Is this a date?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. Seriously? Maybe she was just trying to mess with me. "No. Why, did you want it to be?" I bopped her oar with mine, tipping her small craft to the side.

"You're being rude again!" She furrowed her face and swatted back at my oar. "I guess I wonder if that's what people see when I'm hanging out with one of you."

"Does it matter what they think?" I dipped my oar into the water rhythmically, creating shapes with the wake.

"It's just...I'm always pestered about this. About...us, really."

"Who's bothering you?"

"Lots of people. Seems like everyone. You know my parents do. Selphie finally quit pushing it on me recently, I'm not sure why..." She smiled a little and winked at me. "Probably because she wants you for herself."

Yippee. Addressing the matter at hand, though, I decided to pry further out of my own curiosity more than anything else. "What exactly are they saying?"

"Oh, just silly stuff. We'd make a great couple, you'd be such a reliable boyfriend, oh and my favorite: every princess needs her knight. Ugh, so corny."

I chuckled at the revulsion on her face. "Strange, I always took you as a pretty big romantic. That line doesn't work for you?"

"No way! But that's not exactly..." She trailed off, running her fingers through the tops of the waves that she could reach over the side. "Normally I wouldn't let it bug me. It's just lately...I've been really starting to wonder: what exactly is the difference between someone you love as a friend, and...the other kind of love? How are you supposed to know?"

"Good question." I gripped my oar tightly and continued paddling to the island. This conversation was starting to stray into dangerous territory. I definitely didn't want to say something I'd regret.

"Hey!" She followed after me with an exasperated yell, struggling to keep up.

I arrived on the island and had already tied my boat off by the time she pulled into the dock. She was still shouting at me to wait, so I finally paused at the ramp for her to finish securing her boat and catch up to me. Panting, she pulled at my arm.

"You're too fast!" I almost expected her to be angry, but she instead seemed quietly repentant. "Riku...I'm sorry if I upset you."

I shrugged. "Why would I be upset? I was being honest: it's a good question. I really don't think I'm the sort of person who can answer it for you, though. That's something each of us has to decide on our own."

"Mm...you're absolutely right. I was just hoping..." She trailed off again and I was left wondering if maybe this had something to do with what happened to her and Sora yesterday. But this really wasn't what I wanted to discuss right now.

"My advice is this: whatever happens, just don't let yourself be pressured into anything. If something feels wrong, then stop it. Sometimes you can't rely on your brain to think clearly when emotions are involved, so you just have to go on that instinct and consider everything after the fact."

"Very solid advice if I must say so." She nodded firmly then smiled, brandishing my camera. "So then, can we get started?"

"Right away, princess." I gave her as sarcastic a bow as I could manage.

I could tell she was very much regretting letting me know that phrase bothered her. "Don't you start that!"

I tipped my head noncommittally and straightened, wandering with her as she patrolled the beach, looking for her ideal photo spot. She continued scanning the beach until she spotted the waterfall, then pointed over to a place near the rock wall.

"Okay, you sit here..." I complied, while she dropped herself next to me. "I want to get the waterfall in the background, so...how should I hold it?"

I reached out to help her adjust it to the proper angle so she wouldn't end up cutting our heads off in the picture. "Okay, just click this button here when you're ready."

She leaned up against my arm and poked me with a laugh. "You need to smile, okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

She gave a slow count down, then clicked the picture, checking it excitedly the minute it spit the image out. A huge smile spread across her face. "This is so nice!"

Standing, she dusted off the back of her dress and started searching for more good spots. I walked with her down along the side of the coast where some tidal pools were beginning to form at this time of day. In one, there was a rather large fish splashing around, accidentally trapped in a pool too small. It was struggling, all alone, and I bent down over him. He must have been idly swimming about, not realizing the water was steadily receding until it was far too late. Then, he could do nothing but watch as his world evaporated around him, leaving him all alone; an open target for predators and the unrelenting heat of the sun.

I've been there myself, little fish. I carefully did my best to scoop him up in my hands out of the pool. Kairi clearly noticed at this point as I struggled to run the flopping fish over to the ocean and released it back with a flop. It sped off so quickly through the water I couldn't even catch what direction it left in. Ugh, great, now my hands are all fishy.

Kairi laughed and tossed her hand towel in my direction. "Poor little guy. I'm sure he's thanking you."

"I doubt fish are that grateful."

"Well I'm grateful. You're a good person and that makes me happy."

She was smiling so serenely at me, it made me feel a little embarrassed. It was just a fish...

Why am I getting so agitated? Ugh, this is seriously bad. She strolled over to where I was and peeked into the tidal pool at our feet. Her feet stumbled a bit on the uneven rocks, so without even the slightest hesitation she reached over and steadied herself on my arm, clutching it tightly. She was always unafraid to get close to me. And I found the more time I spent with her the more I wanted her to be safe, happy. And for these last few months I finally resolved her being near me wouldn't be a detriment to those things. At least...until the reappearance of that sudden thorn of a thought I couldn't pull free.

Kairi didn't spot anything in the pool, so she started leading me off towards another, using me to keep herself steady on the rocks. "I've been thinking...is it okay if I take a rain check for the other five pictures? I'd love to get your photo with a bunch of other friends, too. We could take a lot at the festival."

I opened my mouth to protest, but realized that I had stupidly never put an exact time on when she needed to take the pictures by. "I guess I don't really have any right to complain, so long as I get those clues I asked for."

"Ha!" She stuck her tongue out at me and I suddenly had an incredibly strong and strange urge to pull her close to me. After all, she loves giving hugs, right? It would be so easy from here. I could even probably pass it off that I thought she was going to fall into one of the pools. She might even like it. Maybe part of her would consider again if what all those people were telling her was right. That we could be...

But...that isn't right. I couldn't. I saw his face in my minds eye and felt such a strange mix of emotions rush through my blood it gave me chills. Frustrated at myself, I pulled away from her, shoving my hands in my pockets. "If you aren't going to take any more pictures today, is there anything else you'd rather do?"

"Hmm...we could always just go swimming? I already have my suit on."

I glanced back to see her starting to hoist up her dress and I panicked, stumbling a little, almost falling right into a puddle of water. I hastily grabbed her hand to stop her from lifting the skirt of her dress up any further, probably a lot rougher than she would have liked.

"What?" She blinked at me, startled.

"I...don't have my swimsuit on me." Wow. That excuse sounded lame.

She puffed out her cheeks a little bit in frustration. "If you don't want to swim just say so. I don't mind." She dropped the sides of her dress and started walking, pulling me with her. "You know...sometimes I wish I could read you like Sora can. He picks up on so many more things."

I don't know about that. She is certainly way more perceptive about me than the average person. Most of the time she can actually decipher some of the subtleties that most people simply attribute to me being stoically unemotional. And she's one of the few people I felt could actually understand sometimes what's in my head without me having to articulate it out. It's a bit frustrating with the two of them together sometimes, when I want to keep things a secret, but ultimately it's nice to have friends that understanding.

I forced myself to look away from her and saw another figure crossing towards us on the beach. Oh, hell. It's Selphie. I bet she's going to make things so much better. I retreated away, leaving the two girls to chat. I noticed Kairi pointing to my camera around her neck, then back over to me. I had better not have to take a picture alone with Selphie. Or worse, doing a stupid pose for her to raffle off like candy.

Maybe I can convince her to take some pictures of these very interesting tidal pools instead. I glanced down around at a few of them, hoping to spot something different than the usual crabs and starfish. I let the girls catch up while I stared into the water, searching for something photo worthy.

I finally heard Kairi call out to me specifically and I looked up to see her waving me over with a bit of a sad look in her eye. "Hey, it looks like I might actually have to head off to practice earlier than I thought..."

"Yeah, but before that...please?" Selphie was begging, that's not good.

"No! I'm not wasting one of my pictures on that."

I knew it.

"Pleaaase? How else am I going to get it!?"

Kairi was scolding her friend with her eyes, but Selphie didn't seem to want to back down. Finally, Kairi jabbed her finger in my direction. "If you can get him to agree, then fine, I'll do it. But you have to ask. Directly."

Selphie actually looked a bit nervous. That was a first. I crossed my arms. "What is it?"

There was a tense silence as Selphie floundered, unable to speak. Kairi finally giggled, unable to hold it in. "She wants a picture of you without-"

"No! Don't say it!" Selphie clamped her hands down over Kairi's mouth and pulled her away back towards the dock.

Kairi hastily handed the camera back over to me as she was dragged backwards. She managed to pull her mouth out from under Selphie's hands, still giggling. "Sorry, Riku! I need to-"

"Hold on a minute, what about our deal?"

Selphie narrowed her eyes and skidded to a halt. "Oooh...what deal?"

"She's going to give me three hints about her role in the festival in exchange for all those pictures." I explained, holding up my fingers. "I've yet to get a single one."

Selphie hummed a little in understanding. "Uh-oh. With that many clues he's bound to find out. Unless you give him some really tricky ones. Better think hard, girl."

Kairi waved her friend off with a sigh. "I know, I know! Just...give me a second to think..."

"We don't have all day, Kairi. Practice starts soon!" Selphie pushed.

"Okay, okay! First clue...at the festival many of us will be taking on a certain role. This job has the same name as someone working at a hotel and also sounds like...a spooky creature."

I folded my arms and let my brain puzzle it over while she thought of her next hint. A hotel job? There's someone at the front desk for reception, house keeping, and sometimes porters...but the fact that it needs to be a 'spooky creature' narrows it down quite a bit. A ghost. A front desk host. Simple enough.

"Second clue, my role involves two things that don't normally get along. One of those two things is vaguely related to a friend I've fought with, the other is related to a friend connected to me by name."

Two things that don't get along, that are also linked to some friends of ours. She's fought a few people, so maybe it would be best to figure out the second person first. A friend connected by name. That could only really refer to Aqua, since their names are both linked to the water. And that made everything about the first half of the clue fall into place. The other friend she referred to must be Lea. Water and fire certainly don't get along too well.

"Last clue, at the festival...it isn't Halloween, buuut..." She clamped her mouth shut and shrugged teasingly at me.

Interesting. Selphie seemed content with these and started pulling her away. "You have fun puzzling it out!"

"And, Riku!" Kairi turned around and wagged a finger at me. "You'd better not follow me to practice. I'll be fine!

I gave her a half smile and waved her off. I decided I would hang around on the island thinking a bit before heading back over to the mainland shore to wait for Sora to show back up. I had a feeling he probably wouldn't be too much longer. I also had a feeling I knew what Kairi's role is going to be. I thought back to the pamphlet and smiled. Oh, so clever...

I snapped a picture of Kairi as she paddled her boat back with her friend. Might be a nice thing for her scrap book. She was far too generous with those clues. Clearly some of our friends will be playing "host". Kairi's role involves fire and water and I suppose the Halloween nod is that she'll probably be dressed up.

I have a pretty good idea as who.

Sometimes looking out at the ocean like this it must look to others like I'm completely lost to the world, oblivious to my surroundings. Quite the contrary today. That's why it was also exceedingly obvious that a certain someone was trying to tip toe up the sand behind me.

"Boo!"

I raised an unimpressed eyebrow in his direction. He sagged a little, obviously hoping for more of a reaction. At least he seemed cheerful. Probably meant good news.

He doubled checked around me, probably confirming if I was alone. "So, where's Kairi?"

"At practice. She refused company there, but Selphie is with her."

"Aw, man..." he kicked at the sand. "I really wanted to see her today..."

I didn't respond, looking back out at the waves.

"What did you end up doing, then?" He asked cheerfully.

I filled him in on a few of the details, leaving out the bit about my nickname. Definitely not something he needed to know. Though, I did realize I hadn't ever come up with one for Kairi yet. Hopefully she won't be too mad about that. Maybe I'll ask Sora's help for that later, since it'll probably take him all of thirty seconds to think of one.

Sora hummed happily, jumping backwards up onto a nearby fence railing and sitting on it. "Right, so...about the, uh, problem. It's not as bad as we thought. He's apparently been trying to get better. Ven said he's still not very open to talking about stuff, though, so it's hard to know what's on his mind."

"A bit of an understatement. I think that's all Roxas found out too, so I hope you got something else."

"They think...he's looking for forgiveness, or something similar. Almost like he wants to actually make some friends of his own. They said they'll often find him sneaking books books out of the library and hiding them in his room. It was a weird variety of titles, from trashy romance novels to philosophical debates, but it all gave the impression he was trying to read up on how people interact together. It just made me wonder what some of those books were even doing in the castle to begin with..."

Yet another way Vanitas and Sora were complete opposites. You'd never find my friend doing a late night raid on a library. "Did they know he was following Kairi?"

"No...Aqua was pretty peeved about it but she said he was probably just trying to learn about us through observation, maybe not realizing how..."

"...Unsettling he is?"

"Yeah..." Sora sighed.

"Or maybe he doesn't care. Why are they even letting him out on his own?"

"It was Ven's idea originally. He started letting him go for a bit to try and learn. He thought maybe with a bit more freedom to interact with people he could make some improvements. And he had been on really good behavior for a while. I mean, I kinda get how being a prisoner in a castle all day would make anyone resentful..."

"Right...in other words, he's trying to learn but not considering others at all in the process."

Sora laughed a bit hesitantly. "I guess he has a lot to work on."

"Yeah, well I don't like it. I just don't believe that guy is really ready to change." I dug my shoe against the sand, creating a large divot out of sheer frustration.

Sora sat there saying nothing. He had that same guilty look on his face as if the stuff that guy did was his fault somehow. I joined him up on the fence, waiting out the silence that had fallen between us.

He was the first to speak. "At least Aqua said she would keep closer tabs on him now. He shouldn't be back to the island for a while without at least one of them with him."

"Good."

"But...I did say they could bring him to the festival, if he really wanted to come."

I almost choked. "What!?"

"It's not like I want him stalking Kairi! But Riku, if he really is trying to change..."

"I know." Sora was way too kind for his own good.

He nodded contentedly. "But it's okay! Kairi should be able to relax for a while now at least. And we can work together to keep our eyes open for any more trouble."

Not that I was elated at this news with Vanitas, but it was more than I was expecting. However, now that there was some relative peace, my mind wouldn't leave me alone. Out in the ocean I saw one of the new ferries sailing past, likely bringing more tourists with it. How strange to think that we were both staring at something so innocuous yet would have absolutely changed our lives if it existed even just a few years ago. A ridiculous thing to consider, I suppose. Because even if we had left on our raft that day we would have just gone in a huge circle and ended up right back where we came from without ever finding anything. We were kind of hilariously under prepared for that journey.

So many things were different back then. So many things I always wished had gone differently. But then I wouldn't be here like this now. I stared over at my best friend, kicking his legs out into air, humming some tune to himself.

I clutched at the edge of the wood of the fence until my hands burned. That...burning aching guilt. I feel sick. Why couldn't I have ever worked up the courage to just ask way back when I could have had a chance? It was almost too late now and these feelings were just so...misplaced and wrong. Was I just pretending to be supportive the whole time?

"Riku...are you mad about something?"

Oh, hell.

Still sitting on the fence, he had twisted to watch me intently, clearly concerned.

I cast my eyes down at the sand. "Just...thinking something unpleasant."

He sighed. "Is it about him?"

"No." I couldn't lie about this. He'd pick it out right away.

His frown only deepened. "Is it the thing that's been bothering you the last few weeks? You always try to do so much alone... Look, I know I said I would wait for you to be ready to tell me but I changed my mind. It's not good for you to keep something bad locked up too long. I'm not leaving your side until you tell me! I'll wait all night if I have to!"

Those earnest eyes of his, I swear, it makes the guilt so, so much worse. "Sora, what if...what if things didn't work out between you and Kairi."

He blinked back at me. "...Huh?"

"For example, what if today while you were away she met someone she liked, and the two of them decided to start dating. What would you say?"

Yeah, he clearly wasn't expecting that question.

"I-I don't know...I..."

"Just tell me. What is the first thing that pops into your mind when you think about that."

"I...it's not really a thing in my head. More like a feeling. A lot of feelings. Most of them...not good."

"Exactly. That's why I've been troubled."

His face had faded to an almost ashen pallor. "Are you worried that Kairi is going to date someone?"

"Not exactly...but maybe."

Alarm spread across his face and he shakily stood up, spinning towards me. "D-did you hear something? Was it something she said? Or maybe someone told you-"

"Relax. None of the above. I just wanted to establish that it is entirely a possibility. She is really popular and not every guy that asks her out is a scum bag. You might...have more competition than you realized. And if that's the case...I don't want it to completely break you."

"How am I supposed to relax when you say stuff like that..." He groaned, slumping down to the ground, back bumping against the post.

"You're right. I'm sorry I brought it up."

He shook his head. "No! No...Riku, I was the one who kept pressuring you to talk about it. Is that really what you were thinking about?"

"Some of it." Just looking at the pain on his face. Even with a hypothetical situation, just the thought of not being with Kairi really cut into him. This is so messed up...

"But you're right, I really can't just wait around for forever and assume things will just fall into place." He jumped up, excitedly clenching his fists. "That's why I have a plan! I came up with it today!"

"Did you?"

"Yeah. I'm definitely going to tell her how I feel at the festival. I've also been preparing something really special I'm going to give her."

My stomach dropped. "Look at you finally taking charge."

"Yeah, but...I also wanted to apologize."

As if he did anything wrong..."Okay, for what?"

"You were so worried about my future you were making yourself sick!" He sagged, putting an arm on my shoulder. "How can I not apologize for that? Do you think you'll feel any better now?"

"I might have to wait and see how the festival turns out."

Sora nudged me with his elbow. "You think I'm gonna chicken out again, don't you?"

"Well your record is pretty abysmal so far." I jostled him back. To be honest, I'm not worried about him getting cold feet, I'm more worried about what mess I'm going to inevitably be creating for myself. I hope we can still have moments like this, that I can still have him by my side if I...

"Hey, I'm super motivated now! That one kiss was definitely not enough." He paused. "The one thing I'm nervous about is what Kairi is up to. Maybe she'll be too busy the whole time to listen to what I have to say..."

I scoffed at him. The one thing he's worried about? Sure, okay. "I'm sure she'll make time if you ask for it."

Sora grinned from ear to ear. "Great! But...after this is all finished, I'll make it up to you. I promise three times over!"

He lifted himself up off the ground and ran down the dune in front of us, charging through the sand with a laugh. He tripped near the bottom, but just rolled through it, shaking the sand merrily out of his hair. If Sora was going to go through with his plan at the festival, that meant I would have to act before then.

I'm such a coward and a liar. My heart is just more confused than ever. If only I could get confirmation...just to end this.

...I feel so sick.