A/N: Well here is chapter eight. I hope you enjoy, and please, don't hate me for how it turned out. xP

Disclaimer: Do not own characters or anything. Cept the storyline... HA.

"You kissed me!"

Selphie stared over at Riku in anger then threw something golden at him.

"Take your damn bracelet back you cheating bastard!" Then she stormed out of the water in anger.

"Selphie wait-" Riku followed her, leaving Roxas and Kairi to swim themselves.

"That was interesting?" Roxas winked.

Then the two of them dunked under the water into the murky mist below. Sharing kisses and the feel of each other's skin as they brushed apart.

----

Riku was beyond confused. He didn't understand these sudden feelings for Kairi or why he had kissed her.

"What was I thinking?" He was sitting in a small ice cream shop, just towards the edge of the beach. "I'm with Selphie, and I kissed Kai, right then and there."

"Sir, what can I get you?" A tall waitress muttered, holding a small memo book in her hand.

Riku didn't answer, but continued to stare off into the distance.

"SIR!"

"Huh, What? Oh sorry." He shook his head and smiled. "I'll take Mint Mocha."

"Great taste." A whisper behind him spoke.

He jumped and came face to face with Kairi. She was staring at him, a large grin on her face, and for a moment, she looked just like Sora.

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you with that kid?" He asked, rolling his eyes.

"You mean Roxas? I told him I was heading over here for ice cream and he said he had to go to some game thing…" She came over to the table he was at and sat down.

"Would you like something too, miss?" The waitress asked, an annoyed tone in her voice.

"Yes. Make that another Mint Mocha." Kairi smiled and the waitress walked off behind the counter.

"Kai, I'm sorry about that, kiss… I don't know what came over me." Riku blushed and looked away from her deep gaze.

"Um it's okay." They looked away from each other until Riku spoke again.

"How have you been…Since, Sora's-" He couldn't find a word to say it. "Passing."

To his surprise, Kairi smiled largely. "I've been great. I mean with Roxas helping me through all of this,"

"Oh." Riku's tone was full of disappointment.

"If I hadn't met him, I probably would have miserable for the rest of my life. No one else in this world can cheer me up as much as he can." When Riku hung his head down she patted it softly. "Next to you of course. It's just since you moved, I haven't seen you all that much."

"Kairi, it seems to me that you don't even give a damn that Sora is dead. You just replaced him with a look alike!" He pounded his fists into the table and Kairi felt hot tears swell up in her eyes.

"I love Sora, I always will! Just because he is gone doesn't mean I can't try to be happy with someone else!" She held her face in her hands and sighed. "I've talked to Sora. He wants me to be happy. And he knows no matter what, that I will never ever forget him."

Riku hung his head once more in shame. He didn't mean his words to be so harsh, but they ended up coming out worse than he had expected.

"You can't speak with someone who's dead Kai," And with that, he left five dollars on the table and walked out of the shop, his eyes filled with tears.

--Later That Night--

Kairi had left the ice cream shop soon after Riku did, but not before drowning her sorrows out in a cone of Mint Mocha. As she headed home, she heard a familiar voice yell out for her.

"Kairi!" It was Roxas, and he was running towards her, without a shirt.

"Um, Roxas? What is it?" She muttered as she stared at his sweat engulfed chest.

"It's Riku. No one can find him. When I came back from my practice, Selphie said she couldn't find him anywhere."

Kairi ran down the street without a word. Roxas cocked his head to the side and followed her a dazed look on his face.

--Stupid--

'I know Riku well enough to know exactly where he would go to wallow in sadness,' Kairi thought to herself as she went across the dark ocean in a small boat.

She had told Roxas she would be back soon, so he stayed back at the island with Selphie. Regardless, as she reached the sands of Destiny Islands she stepped upon them and stared at the secret place before her.

"Riku…" She whispered.

Kairi crouched under the many new grown roots of the small passage way to her old hideout and smiled. There he was, sitting on a rock, his head hung onto the side of his knees.

'Same old Riku-' He looked up and stared off into the dark entrance, unaware of Kairi's presence. 'Or not. He so much taller than those years ago… His hair is so long… His eyes so green-' Kairi cut herself off and shook her head.

"Kairi," She heard Riku whisper. "Why do I suddenly have such feelings for you? I've always loved you as a sister… I've never had these feelings for you that I have now…"

Riku stood up and touched the small drawing on the stone wall beside him. It was the drawing Kairi and Sora had drawn so long ago.

"You, me, and Sora were inseparable. We did everything together, at least until I moved. Then everything changed. I got news that Sora had died-" He pulled his hand away and clutched it to his chest. "I knew you were so hurt that I didn't know what to do for you. I was scared for you Kai. And now I haven't seen you in so long and that last encounter, I just instinctively kissed you."

"Riku," Kairi whispered.

He looked over in the direction the voice had spoken and he gasped. "Kairi!"

She walked out of the dark shadows and looked towards the floor. Riku walked over to her and tilted her head upright to face him. He bit his lip and spoke softly into her ear,

"Kai, I love you."

Her eyes widened in shock as her best friend spoke the words she thought she would never hear in a lifetime.

"Riku, I can't." She muttered, turning her face away from his gaze. "I can't love you."

"I know."

Riku stared at the side of her face before she turned to look at him again.

'Maybe I could just-' But before she finished her thoughts, she had already pressed her lips against his.

When the two broke apart, Riku pressed Kairi into a tight hug. Not knowing what to do, Kairi decided she needed to wrap her arms around him as well. Riku patted her head softly and whispered into her ear,

"Roxas."

End Note: Well there you have it. I left it at a cliffy. Bwahahahahaha. Be sure and review with that oh so wonderfull purpley button!