Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. Reviews are love…Tee hee, I even threw in a few scraps of RikuxKairi there. Bah…

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Chapter Six: Eclipse

That weekend, Sora hadn't mentioned seeing Riku, so I took it upon myself. The day of Sora's big planned date, I left my house early to go by Riku's. I still had his jacket, so I took it with me to return as an excuse to coming by.

He just lived five minutes' walk from me, and when I reached his house, I saw that his dad's truck was gone, but that his mom was just getting in her car. I had a feeling that when we met her in town, she'd been reluctant to let us see Riku. That was strange; we were his best friends. We'd seen each other when we were much worse than sick. What was different now?

Before I realized I'd done it, I was crouching behind a bush, waiting for her to leave. Yeah, that wasn't strange or stalker-like at all. I heard the car's engine start and I peeked through. Tara backed the car out of the driveway and drove away. I blew my hair out of my eyes and straightened.

As casually as I could, I stepped out from behind the bush and up to the front door. Riku's car was the only one in driveway now. I held onto the jacket and knocked with my free hand.

"Hold on." Came a quick answer from Riku.

Funny, he didn't sound like he was dying or anything.

A second later, Riku pulled the door open, "Kairi? What're you doing here?"

Oh, Kairi, I told myself. He was standing in the doorway wearing only jeans and looking like he'd just gotten out of the shower. Being the teenaged girl I was, I couldn't help but take a second to appreciate the lack of shirt. Stop it, STOP IT. It's RIKU. I mentally slapped myself.

I jerked, "Oh, uh. I—er—came to return your jacket." I held it out.

He lifted an eyebrow, smirked, and took it, "Thanks. Are you okay?"

"Me? I'm great. Um—How…how're you?" I asked, sternly keeping my eyes on his face now.

He shrugged, "Fine. I—" He rolled his eyes, leaned back into the house, and yelled, "All right, I get it!"

I craned my neck, "Who was that?"

He blinked, "Oh, um, my—my mom."

It was my turn to lift an eyebrow, "She just left."

He started to fidget, but I lifted a hand, "Are you still hearing…him?"

Riku seemed to look around past me, rubbed the side of his head, and swallowed, "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

I leaned in closer, "You told me you were hearing Xehanort."

Riku twitched, "Shh! You want everyone to hear you? You want everyone to panic?"

Upon closer inspection, I could see that his eyes were red and the circles under his eyes had gotten worse. "Riku, Xehanort is dead, remember?"

He waved a hand at me, "No, no he's not. Listen, I can't talk about this—" He was backing up into the house again, hinting for the conversation to be over.

I pushed anyway, "What's wrong?"

He rubbed his head again, "My parents think I'm losing it as it is, please tell me you haven't told anyone what I told you."

"I—I only told Sora. We don't think you're losing it, Riku, but—you do need help."

"Help? What, like a psychologist? I'm not crazy, Kairi, I just want him to go away."

"He's already gone."

Riku ran a hand over his face and glanced back into the house. When he looked at me again, his grin was back in place, "Well, then there's nothing to worry about, is there?"

He was trying to look okay. "Riku…"

"There's nothing to worry about, Kairi. I'll—just let me handle it on my own. Okay?"

His face was convincing, but his eyes could never lie to me. Nevertheless, it was obvious he wanted me to butt out. I wasn't going to butt out, but at that moment, I had to let him think I was.

"Okay. Well, I—I should go. Your mom said you were sick, so you probably shouldn't be out in this cold." I said, pulling my own jacket closer.

Riku didn't look bothered at all by the cold or the wind. In fact, if I had dared look closer, I would have seen that he was actually sweating.

"I'll see you later." He waved me off and quickly closed the door.

The fifteen minute hike up to the cliff gave me time to clear my head and put on a happy face for Sora, who was waiting for me at the ridge.

The rockslide that had nearly washed away the cliff a few years ago had formed several gouges in the cliff's side. Trees were still growing sideways down the cliff, giving it a swirling look.

"Hey, you're late, young lady!" Sora yelled, jumping to his feet with a wide smile on his face, "I said noon sharp and the sun is high overhead!"

"I'm sorry." I smiled back, trying to be cheerful, "I just got held up at—"

"Psh sh pst!" He shushed me, wigging his finger in front of his mouth, "We must remain silent! Tis to complete the illusion!" He offered his arm.

I took it, "Where—" I whispered.

He hushed me again, "Come, m'lady!"

I stifled a giggle as he led me around the edge of some boulders. "Close your eyes."

"What—"

"Psh sh pst! Close your eyes and brace yourself!"

Wondering what kind of hairbrained scheme he had planned now, I closed my eyes, allowing him to hold his hands over my face as he led me around the boulders and out closer to the edge of the cliff.

"Now, reach out with one hand." He whispered in my ear. I could hear the excitement in his voice, so I indulged him.

Reaching out carefully, I felt only cool, breezy air. I swept my hand around in a small circle, not finding anything, until my fingertips brushed the surface of something metal, solid, and cool.

"What is it?" I murmured, avoiding being hushed again.

"Guess. It starts with a C, and ends with an 'ar'." His voice was rising now.

With a flourish, he moved his hands from my face and I opened my eyes. A sparkling clean, bright red car sat under my fingers, looking vibrant and out of place among the rocks and the cliff.

I let out a squeal, "You got a car?!"

Sora bounced up beside me, practically about to wet himself, "Just last night! Ooh, I can't wait to see Riku's face when he sees me cruising around in this!"

I folded my arms, "You still have over three months before you can drive. You just have your permit; you have to have your parent with you to drive."

"Ah, but I have a solution!" He whipped out his wallet and displayed a picture of his mom. He slid the picture into the backseat under the seatbelt, "There! Now, not only is a parental unit present in the vehicle, but she's exercising the correct safety techniques as well!"

I tilted my head, "It's a picture…of your mom."

He grabbed my shoulders, "Yes, but it's the thought that counts. She's always with me, right here." He thumped his chest and swept up to the passenger seat, "Come closer, m'lady."

"Sora, I don't care if you keep your entire family album back there, you'll get pulled over if you drive alone with only your permit." I said.

He took my hand and guided me towards the passenger side, "I'm not driving it right now, silly. Now, come, come and enjoy the leather interior."

Giving him a sly look, I slid into the passenger side seat. He smirked, shut the door, and danced over to the driver's side, sliding into the seat behind the wheel.

"Okay, okay, okay, watch this." He flicked a switch on the dashboard.

A series of clicks sounded overhead and the roof detached from the windshield, folding backwards to let the sunlight pour into the cabin.

"Knocks Riku's sunroof out flat, doesn't it?" Sora reveled in his victory. "Oh, and the fun doesn't stop there."

He enthusiastically pressed another button. My and his seats began to recline, facing the open blue sky above as the roof finished folding backwards.

"Wow." I exclaimed, impressed, "How did you get such a great car? Reward or request?"

"What? You don't think my parents would get me a great car just because I'm a good kid?"

"Well, what did you bribe them with?"

"That hurts. All I did to deserve this was save all of humanity." He paused, "I have to pay for half of it and get a summer job." He admitted.

"I knew there was a catch." I boasted triumphantly, settling my shoulders against the seat.

It was starting to get dark outside. Why was that? It was hardly past noon. First it was freezing outside and now the sun's going on the fritz with the weather…

I looked up at the sky and gasped. Sora just chuckled.

The sun was being covered up by the moon. It looked like it was blinking, or winking down at us as the sunlight was shielded and for once, the moon won the battle over the sky, if only momentarily.

I looked sideways at Sora. He lifted his arms, "Tada."

"There's no way—you couldn't have planned—" I stammered.

"Psh sh pst! Silence, madam. Just sit back and enjoy the eclipse. Do not question my magic."

"This was no magic, this was plotting." I murmured under my breath.

"Then at least don't question my plotting, my dear." He slipped his arm around my shoulders.

We stayed that way for half an hour, while the moon blotted out the sun in the middle of the day. It was still freezing outside; the heat of the day and only 40 degrees. Eventually the moon continued its pass through the sky, surrendering once again to the violent brilliance of the sun.

"Sora, why are you and Riku always trying to best each other?" I broke the silence.

"We don't try to 'best' each other." Sora answered.

I sat up a little, "Every aspect of this car you compared to Riku's."

"We're guys. We compare cars. We compete."

"In everything? Over what? I mean, before, you were fighting over me, right?"

"In a twisted, man-way, yes."

"Then why now still? You've already won me." I smiled as I said it.

Sora narrowed one eye, "Have I?"

The doubt in his eyes startled me. Had I given him any reason to doubt? I answered myself: you were late to a date he'd been planning for a week to visit his best friend, no, both of yours best friend.

"Sora…"

"I just…it feels like you've been distracted lately. Like we're drifting apart." He looked awkward.

I blinked, "No, we're not drifting apart."

I'm just worried about Riku, I thought, but there was no way I was going to say it out loud. Instead, I just leaned in and kissed him as passionately as I could, hoping to convince him. Maybe to convince myself too. This notion surprised, and disturbed, me. He kissed me back, satisfied.

The eclipse ended and the moon passed, but that nagging shadow lingered in my mind.