Kingdom Holidays
May 16th: Love A Tree Day

It was Sunday again and for the second in a row, Riku woke up to an empty room. Much like last week, he wondered where his brunette had gone to as he stretched and yawned. Again, reminiscent of last week, he got up, dressed, and headed downstairs. But after a full investigation of their small house, he found no trace of said brunette.

He picked up his phone and dialed Sora's number. He wasn't surprised when he heard the forgotten phone ringing on the kitchen counter. "Sora… I swear… how many times have I told you not to forget your phone?"

With a sigh, he checked the clock. It was just after sunrise and he slipped his shoes on and headed for the door. His mind raced as he thought of reasons Sora would be up and out this early. But nothing that made sense came to mind. Unless it was another odd 'holiday' of his.

"How about the scare-the-shit-out-of-your-boyfriend day. Or the piss-Riku-off day. Or the…" He stopped his train of thought as he stopped on the beach. He squinted in the morning light but he was nearly certain he could spy his missing brunette at the paopu tree.

"Why is he up there so early?" Riku got his answer as soon as he stepped through the door and stood facing the tree.

Sora sat a foot away from the tree, facing it. "And you know what I've been thinking?" He said to the tree. "I've been thinking that we need a pet. But I'm just not sure if Riku would want one. He can be so… rigid sometimes. And very set in his ways. And if he did agree… then what sort of pet should we get?"

He's talking to a tree… Riku thought, ignoring the content of Sora's conversation and focusing on the tree he was talking to. This is just great. He's gone crazy! He shook his head slowly as he stepped up behind Sora and tapped him on the shoulder.

The brunette jumped up and spun around. Seeing Riku, he lifted his hand and waved. "Morning Riku. What are you doing up this early?"

"I came looking for you." He answered and then lifted a finger to wag it at him. "And don't change the subject."

Sora tilted his head to the side. "What subject?"

Riku pointed at the tree behind him. "The fact that you've gone crazy and you're talking to the tree."

"Oh… you heard… well…" He smiled. "What do you think?"

"I think you're crazy."

His bottom lip stuck out in a pout. "Awe! You do?"

Riku nodded. "Well… yes. Most normal people don't talk to trees."

"Oh… oh…" Sora shook his head slowly. "Crazy for the tree talking. Not for the other thing…" He nodded again. "I get it."

"Wait… get what?" Now Riku was the one momentarily confused. "Are we talking about the same thing?"

Sora shook his head. "Not really. But that's okay. So the tree talking..." He turned around towards the tree and stretched out his arm to run his fingers along it. "I'm not crazy. I was simply being friendly. Keeping it company for a little while. I meant to get home before you missed me."

"Keep the tree… company…" Riku repeated slowly.

"I'm not crazy!" Sora insisted. "This tree is very important to me. To us… it's been here as long as I can remember. We've played here our whole lives." His eyes glazed over as he remembered and he smiled. "Here." He turned enough to grab Riku's hand and placed it beside his own against the tree.

Riku resisted his urge to pull his hand away. Sora had been correct about the tree being important. And he was now curious. He waited for the brunette to continue.

But Sora simply closed his eyes and leaned against Riku.

"Uh… Sora…"

"Shhhh. Just a minute longer." He bowed his head and after a few moments, he lifted it again and smiled. He released his grip on Riku's hand and lifted both of their hands off the tree.

"Can I talk now?" Riku whispered and when Sora nodded, he continued. "So… what's this about?"

"Love a Tree Day. And I can't think of a better deserving tree. Don't you think?"

Riku smiled and threw an arm around Sora's shoulders. "You're so cute."

"And you love me."

"And I love this tree too."

Notes: TREES! GO HUG ONE! NOW! Or rather… a few weeks ago since I'm still very late on posting these. At this rate, I will never catch up. XD