"You know, you're more spacey than usual." Startled from her reverie, Usagi turned toward Riku, blinking. The music suddenly shifted to a slow song, as she processed what he said moments before. "I thought you wanted to come to this thing."

'Right, I did beg him to come. I haven't said anything for the last half hour. He must be bored senseless.' The blonde sighed, and responded quietly, "I'm sorry. I thought I did."

"Come on," Usagi felt a jolt run from her head to her toes as Riku grabbed her hand and pulled her with him toward the door. "This party is lame anyway."

"Uh, y-yeah," she shakily agreed, her head bobbing up and down as she surrendered to his lead. After they passed through the flailing crowds, now dancing wildly to a techno type beat, and made it out the door, Riku never released her hand. Usagi couldn't unstick her throat enough to even ask where they were going.

A few minutes later, she found there was no reason, for she knew the path by heart. Accepting his helping hand, she lowered slowly into the boat, praying she wouldn't flip it being clumsy and drench them both. Thankfully, she made it into her seat and stayed quiet as they headed for their favorite haunt.

Riku didn't retake her hand once they climbed onto the dock, so she followed a few steps behind as he walked towards his favorite place on the island, and hers as well; the paopu tree.

When smaller, Sora, Kairi, Riku and her would meet there every morning to watch the sun come up, and at night to watch it set over the ocean. Always a shorter girl, Usagi could never jump up like the others and proved much too clumsy to climb up. So every day, Riku would pick her up and place on the tree before he climbed up himself.

Even so, it surprised the bunny when a warm hand rested on each side of her waist and hoisted her up onto the slanted trunk of their favorite tree. With a slight jump, he took up the spot next to her, unaware of the fierce red color that highlighted her cheeks.

"This brings back memories," Usagi commented softly, fondly, realizing they hadn't adhered to their old ritual ever since they all returned to Destiny Island. No matter how they tried, things couldn't be as happy and carefree as back then. Her eyes sparkled against the moonlight as she watched the ocean ripple, letting the familiar view drain the tension from her completely.

Finally, the blonde turned toward her old friend, whom she'd had a crush on a large chunk of the time they'd known each other. As long as that time, she recalled faintly, he had feelings for her friend Kairi. Not that she resented the redhead for anything, the two were close enough to be sisters, but it still hurt. All the time Riku spent looking for her, risking his life, blurring the lines between good and evil.

So many sacrifices, and the whole time she had worried for his safety, he didn't think of her once. Blinking herself back to reality, she realized that Riku had been staring intently at her this whole time. For good reason, because in her daze, her blue eyes never wavered from his aquamarine, and they were a bit too close for comfort.

"AIE!!" Usagi yelped, unable to control her shock. The sudden commotion caused her to lose balance, a further proof of her klutz nature, and she began a slow motion tumble to her doom; or what felt very much like it in her panicked mind.

Desperate, she lashed out and grabbed the nearest thing, Riku. Instead of aiding her in becoming steady, the force of her falling weight pulled him off kilter. The slow motion switched to hyper speed, and at the end of it all, Usagi had pulled a bristled Riku to the ground directly on top of her. Not to mention, she'd already been uncomfortable in her bunny costume.

A small whimper rose in her throat as he shifted, and pushed himself up onto his elbows. Still their faces were inches apart, her arm clenched around his neck, soft wisps of silver hair tickling against her cheeks. All the blood rushed to her face, she could hear her heart hammering against her chest, aching.

"Bunny," Riku mumbled, his voice low and soft, his eyes burning a hole through her. He hadn't called her that in so long. The blonde felt her heart burn like it was on fire, her emotions overloading, wanting to cry and laugh all at once. "You should know--"

"I already know." Usagi interrupted, her eyes closing automatically. The tears singed at the back of her eyelids, begging for release. "I know you still love Kairi."

"I don't." Her blue eyes flew open in shock, forgetting about the tears they held at bay, which escaped from the corners of her eyes and disappeared somewhere into her blonde locks of hair. "I don't love Kairi."

"But all the things with Maleficent, and," she couldn't locate the words. The shock overwhelmed her. She blinked stupidly up at him as he considered her with analytical aquamarine eyes.

"Yes, I wanted to save her. We're like a family, all of us together, and Sora, he's my friend and he loved her." Riku paused, seeming to struggle over his own words. Finally, he turned his eyes down to hers and said, "I would've come for you first, but I knew you were safe."

"Riku," Usagi sniffled, but couldn't ebb her tears, "What are you saying?"

It took a pause before he finally said, "I'm saying that I love you, Bunny." Complete silence followed his words. Usagi knew she stopped breathing, but every part of her brain stopped functioning. Before she knew it, Riku ducked from her grip and scrambled off of her, mumbling an apology.

Everything happened so fast. Despite her clumsiness she made it to her feet. Her hand reached out, fingers just grasping the hem of his cape as it fluttered out behind him. With all the strength she could muster, she tugged him backwards. This time he kept his footing, but Usagi threw her arms around his waist from behind.

"Don't go," her voice came as nothing more than whine. Riku gently released her grip and turned to face her. His aquamarine eyes searched her face as he waited for her to speak. "Riku, you idiot. I've always loved you. Always."

His hand brushed against the side of her face, carrying off a few stray tears in the process, and tilted her head up. Usagi froze when his lips claimed hers, marveled how forcefully, and yet, gently he pulled her closer. It took a split second for her to melt into his arms, returning the kiss she had been dreaming of for years.

Sometimes it's funny how a dream can never live up to a reality.

"Hey Sora, where are Riku and Usagi?" Kairi asked her brunette boyfriend. Sora glanced at her, and then around the room, grateful he could finally look at her without blushing like crazy.

"I have no idea." He mused, though the twinkle in his blue eyes suggested he could think of a few places. Kairi scrunched her nose in confusion, then laughed when Sora wrapped an arm around her waist and brought them face to face.

"Maybe they finally got together." She breathed, her blue eyes twinkling merrily.

"It would be about time," Sora agreed, closing the remaining distance between them.

"Aw, get a room!" Selphie whined from behind them. They both had to break away from the kiss, laughing to their hearts content. Sunrise would find a vampire and a bunny wrapped up in each others arms, covered by a thick cape for warmth, under a certain familiar tree. And when they woke up, they may well share a paopu fruit for breakfast.

xXx

Ah, mush.

I hope you enjoyed Sachi-chan's Halloween Special! Happy Halloween everyone! Stay safe, and may you get a whole pillowcase full of candy. Those really big, fat pillows that are mushy and comfortable so you want to lay them over your mattress and pretend like you're sleeping on clouds. -dreamy sigh-

Please review!

-Sachinyoko