The sun had just begun setting when Anai heard a tap on her window. She sat up from her bed to see Riku peering in. Because they lived next door to each other, this was a common method of communication between the two. They could easily climb from one balcony to another, tap on the other's window, and hang out with them for a bit.
"We're gonna go watch the sunset," Riku said as Anai opened the window. "Wanna join?"
She glanced back at her bed. It was still early, and from the excitement inside of her she didn't think she'd be able to fall asleep early like she wanted to.
"Sure," she smiled and climbed out onto the balcony with her friend. "Let's go."
The two made their way across the bridge and onto the small island, taking spots on the tree trunk next to Kairi and Sora and gazing out at the setting sun.
"So," Sora began. "Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?"
"Could be," Riku answered. "We'll never know by staying here."
"But how far could a raft take us?" Sora asked.
"Hey!" Anai cut in, nudging Sora with her arm. "We worked hard on that thing."
"I know, I know," Sora laughed, nudging her back.
"Who knows?" Riku interrupted them. "If we have to, we'll think of something else."
"So, suppose you get to another world," Kairi cut in, giggling. "What would you do there?"
"Well, I haven't really thought about it," Riku looked over at Kairi, a smile on his lips. The red haired girl smiled back at him, and Anai looked away from them both, staring out at the ocean.
"I would want to meet all the new people," Anai said, standing up on the trunk of the tree and pushing her black hair off of her shoulders. "And see the architecture."
"Boring," Sora laughed, and Kairi flicked him.
"It's just," Riku shook his head, seemingly ignoring the banter between Sora and Anai. "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?"
Anai watched Riku's face carefully. He was in one of those moods where his mind just kept running and running, and she had noticed it earlier. The best thing to do was to just let his thoughts roam; to let him work out his own answers.
Sora sighed, pulling Anai from her thoughts, and moved into a laying position on the tree trunk. "I don't know."
"Exactly!" Riku stood from his spot against the tree. "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."
"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi leaned forward to look at Riku, her head tilting.
"He always does," Anai said, placing a hand on the silver haired boy's shoulder.
"Thanks to you," he said, ignoring Anai's words and turning towards Kairi. "If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks."
"You're welcome," Kairi responded.
Anai rolled her eyes. She loved her friends, but they could romanticize things a bit sometimes, especially Riku. Over the last few months, when their talk of leaving the island became less of an idea and more of a reality, she'd started to develop feelings for Riku. They'd been there for a while, but she'd only recently allowed herself to explore them. Because of that, his crush on Kairi was beginning to wear on her a bit. But it was nobody's fault, and she could deal with it on her own.
"We should head back," she said to her friends, hopping off the tree and making her way across the bridge. "It's getting late."
She made it to the sand with Kairi close behind, and they both stopped and waited for the boys, who seemed to be tossing around a paopu fruit. When they finally made it to the sand, Sora and Kairi went in the direction of their houses while Riku and Anai went in the opposite direction towards their own.
"You know," Riku began after they'd walked a few minutes in silence. "If Kairi hadn't come to the island, I don't know what I'd be doing right now; what I'd be hoping for."
Anai sighed, a bit exasperated, and feeling a bit vulnerable. "Enough about Kairi, please, just for a few minutes."
"What do you mean?" Riku turned to face her, walking backwards in the direction of their houses. "Does this have to do with what you said earlier? About my 'fascination' with her?"
"Yeah," Anai stopped walking. "You and Sora."
"Anai," Riku shook his head. "That's not true. We just want-"
"Back there, you practically thanked her for existing!" Anai heard her voice shake, but she held back her emotions. "How about thanking me? The raft was my idea, and I built most of it by myself. I know I'm not from some exciting other world, I know I'm not special, but a thank you would be nice."
She took off running past Riku, who didn't follow her and mostly just stood there looking a bit shocked. She knew that it wasn't about not getting any credit, and that she was pretty much just upset that Riku seemed to have a crush on Kairi but not on her, but there was no way she was going to admit that to him. She would apologize the next day for overreacting, she told herself, and then she would stop this little crush before it went too far.