N/A: Hey everybody! I'm SO glad so many people are on the alert subscription for Follow Me. It makes me all smiley and dorky. Anyways, hope you all enjoy this chapter. It's a mammoth milestone for me... this is the first dialogue I've ever written between two best friends. xD I know, that's weird, but most of the time it's people who are just getting to know one another. Thank you all for your alerts... but PLEASE, PLEASE, review? I wanna know what you think, not just that you're interested. -puppy dog eyes-
Jacqueline Out.

"Hold still."

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

"Well, I'm used to Donald being able to—"

"You know you're hopeless, right?"

"So says the guy who just got his ass whooped by a half-wit heartless."

"Touché."

Sora finished tying the last knot of the white gauze over Riku's upper arm and sat back on his heels to look at his patchwork. Riku lay sprawled on the cave floor, his shirt lying casually on one of the rocks nearby while he leaned against another as the younger bandaged him up.

"How's Kairi?" Riku asked nonchalantly as he stretched out on the quilt beneath him. He'd been recovering in the cave for a day or two now, Sora providing him all that he needed. This included the blue blindfold that stayed around his eyes. He was still far too sensitive to the light. At night, he'd take it off and look at the moonlight through the entrance of the cave.

Sora looked up from the first aid kit he was packing up. He flinched slightly at his friend's question. The older gave a nod of understanding. "She's real worried is all. She's noticed I'm not acting myself," Sora mumbled. "But the thing is… I've been more like myself than I've ever been in the past five years."

"I didn't realize I had that sort of effect on people," Riku said with a suggestive raise of his eyebrows. Sora's face flushed slightly, then he scowled and gave the silver haired boy a shove in the shoulder, making sure it wasn't the one that had gotten injured. Rubbing his shoulder with a pout on his face, Riku added, "So… you think she's sort of forgotten the person you were before all this?"

"I just think she's gotten used to me being quiet and predictable. I think that's what she needs right now. When I found the Door though, I had to see if I could find you."

Riku hung his head shamefully. All of this trouble his friends had gone through just for him. "Hey," he heard his friend whisper before there were two hands on his shoulders. He could feel the brunette's warm breath, warning him that Sora was leaning closer. "Don't beat yourself up, Riku. You were just trying to save Kairi."

"I didn't do it for Kairi. I did all that for myself. So I could see the worlds, and have power. I was a selfish little bastard who got jealous of a duck and a dog because they were there for you when I wasn't," Riku hissed, his voice filled with self-loathing. Suddenly, he was in a hug that made his lungs want to pop as the younger held him tightly.

"You'll always be my friend, Riku, even if you do make mistakes. I'll take you as you are."

"Sora…" Riku said breathlessly, surprised by this sudden act of intimacy.

"Yeah?"

"You're crushing my lungs."

"Oh, sorry."

"Thanks."

The two sat in silence for a while, uneasy. Sora stared down at his gloves, debating if he should head back to the house or not. Kairi had gone out to do some things for the wedding with Selphie. He'd been able to get the letter before she sent it off and burned it. No sense in telling Goofy and Donald when all he'd been able to do was get Riku back. They didn't much care for the silver haired boy after their experiences those years ago. He let his eyes wonder up to look at Riku. He still looked pretty beat up, but so much the same. He was taller, definitely more muscled, but otherwise the same Riku.

"Why are you marrying her, Sora?" Riku's smooth and always calm voice cut through the silence.

Sora frowned. Why would Riku ask him that? He'd just told his friend yesterday about his engagement, trying to get his mind away from the darkness. It seemed to have only made him confused. Riku was having a hard time accepting the fact so much time had occurred since he was gone. "Because I love her, duh."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, all right." He wasn't one to press. Sora pulled his legs up to his chest, letting his head rest on them as he stared around at the cave paintings. They weren't painful to look at anymore. It'd been hard to come in here the last two days to see Riku in a sleep filled with nightmares with these childhood memories surrounding.

Sora closed his eyes, tired from having to lie to Kairi, take care of Riku and to keep forgetting about how he left Mickey in the darkness. Before he knew what was happening, he'd fallen fast asleep. He'd been sitting next to Riku, and as he fell asleep, he slumped up against him, his mouth open slightly as he gave a soft snore.

Riku rolled his eyes, wishing he could look at his friend and see just how ridiculous he looked. Slowly, he put his arm around the brunette's shoulder and let his head lean back as he too drifted off to sleep.

"So, Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora asked as the three friends watched the sunset over the ocean's horizon. The water was on fire with the colors of red, orange and pink. The breeze whipped at their hair as all eyes were looking past the sea to the worlds beyond.

"Could be," Riku replied, crossing his arms. "We'll never know by staying here."

Sora glanced over at the raft bobbing up and down in the water not too far off from the Paopu Island they sat on. It was almost finished. Even so, it was still tiny. "But how far could a raft take us?"

Riku's expression didn't change; his gaze didn't shift from the horizon as he spoke, "Who knows? If we have to, we'll think of something else."

The sounds of seagulls and the gentle splashing of the rising tide filled their ears. Riku was lost in his traveling mind, hating the small town around him. If he didn't get out of this place soon, he'd suffocate.

Kairi glanced down at her shoes as she swung her feet back and forth. She was perched on the big old Paopu tree, her two friends on either side of her. The silence worried her, as she was so unsure of the two beside her. They both seemed so comfortable with themselves. She was worried she'd say the wrong thing to Riku, or Sora would notice the way she looked at him. "So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?" she asked to fill the silence. She always liked to hear what Riku had to say. He seemed so cool and collected, if not a bit cocky.

"Well, I haven't really thought about it. It's just... I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?" Riku said in a rush, his thoughts coming out haphazardly and confusing.

Sora raised and eyebrow and laid back on the branch, his arms folding behind his head to act as a pillow. "I don't know," he said, aloof.

Riku clenched his fist and looked up towards the dusky sky. "That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go!" he half-shouted, his voice full of emotion.

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi giggled.

"Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this," Riku responded easily. There was a pause in which the boy gave a half smile that was more of a smirk than anything. "Kairi, thanks."

Kairi beamed. "You're welcome." She looked up at the darkening sky, and slipped off the branch with a soft sigh. "It's getting late. I'm gonna head home." The two boys watched as the girl walked away, before Sora rolled off the tree and onto the sand. He too began to walk back towards the shore where their little boats were tied.

"Sora."

The brunette looked around to Riku who stood not far behind him. He tossed the younger something, and Sora grabbed it out of the air. He stared down at the star shaped fruit in his hand, his brow furrowed with puzzlement.

"You wanted one, didn't you?" Riku said, voice smooth as silk as he walked up to stand beside his friend.

"A paopu fruit?"

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each others lives no matter what." A smirk broke out across the silver haired boy's face. "C'mon. I know you want to try it."

"What are you talking—?"

Sora found a pair lips pressed gently against his own, Riku's arm wrapping around his friend's waist as he held him close. Sora's eyes widened with surprise, but he didn't struggle. As they broke the kiss, Sora smiled sweetly, and looked down at the paopu fruit in his hands.

"Too late. Kairi and I are already sharing a destiny." He gave another one of his innocent, childish smiles and crushed the fruit in his hand. "You missed your chance, Riku."

Riku awoke with a gasp, hating the images that had been going through his mind. The memory had started nicely, one of the last nights before so much had changed. Then it'd gone all wrong. He shook his head, trying to forget the image of him and Sora kissing. That wasn't bothering him as much as the thing he'd said afterwards, however.

He could still feel Sora leaning up against him, and by the sound of the snoring he was still fast asleep. Had he really moved on so much in that time? Had Sora really shared a paopu with Kairi? Were they really going to get married?

It had never occurred how much he needed Sora. Without him, he knew for sure he'd fall into darkness again. But he was going to be married, and have so many other things on his mind. They weren't just kids anymore, they couldn't just dream of a better way to live their lives. They had to work with what they had.

So much had changed, and yet… some things were just the same.

"Maybe you're right, Sora," he sighed softly. "Maybe I missed my chance. More than you'll ever know."