I do not own anything besides Yumi

Name: Yumi

Age: 18

Looks: Brownish red hair, blue/grey eyes, 5'4"

Destiny Islands. Was there any better place to be? Summer break was coming to an end and I decided to spend my day laying on the beach and working on my tan.

'Could this day get any better?' I thought as my iPod switched to the next song.

Although I had spent most of my day alone on the beach, I was perfectly happy with that. I usually hung around Tidus and Wakka, but they had both decided to go on some camping trip, and I refuse to willingly spend a weekend somewhere where there is no indoor plumbing. That's just my philosophy.

I got up to turn over when I heard someone laughing off in the distance.

'Oh no...please don't be who I think you are. I was having SUCH a great day.'

I sat up and looked in the direction of where the noise was coming from. Sure enough, I saw three figures off in the distance.

'Sigh, so much for my peaceful day of tanning. Guess it's for the better...melanoma and all.'

I quickly threw on my tee shirt and jean shorts and began to pack up my belongings before the three musketeers could come over and ruin my peaceful sile-

"Hey, isn't that Yumi?!" I heard a girl say.

'Crap'

The figures began running towards me as I picked up my bag and grabbed my sandals.

"Yumi! Hi!" the girl said.

"Oh, hi Kairi, Sora, Riku," I grumbled back.

"We were just about to have a picnic. Care to join?" Kairi asked, with a genuine smile on her face.

"Oh no, that's okay. I wouldn't want to impose," I responded. "And besides, I was just about to head home and get some groceries."

"You sure? We packed enough food for another person," the spiky haired Sora piped in.

'Sometimes...that kid really doesn't get it'

"No, really, I'm fine. Thanks though."

"Probably for the best. Sora was planning to eat that extra share anyway!" Riku joked, smiling at me.

I smiled back to the silver haired lad and let out a small giggle.

Sora made a mad face at Riku and walked away in a huff, with Kairi following behind him laughing.

"You should go catch up to your 'buddies' Riku. They'll be missing their comic relief after awkward romantic tension," I snorted.

He rolled his eyes and pulled me into a hug, which I strongly fought against.

"Oh you and your jokes Yumi," he said, giving me a noogie. "We're still on for dinner tonight, right? I wanna know this big news!"

I escaped from his deathly grip and fixed my hair.

"First of all, never do that again. Second, yeah, just come over when you're done with 'Destiny Islands Dynamic Duo' or whatever new title they have," I said sarcastically.

Riku frowned, and I immediately felt guilty.

"Sorry...it just really bothers me how innocent and naive they are."

He shrugged and said, "Sometimes, I think it's all an act. But hey, what do I know right?"

He let out a weak sigh and I nudged his chin.

"Smile sunshine, and I'll see you later."

With that, he was on his way after Sora and Kairi.

I began my trek back to my house and began to let my mind wander.

I bet you're wondering why that whole scene just went down right? Well, let me explain as I daze off into my own mind for awhile.

I've always been here on Destiny Island, which means I did grow up with Sora and Riku. Riku and I have been neighbours and best friends since I was born. His mom and my mom were best friends, and they made sure their kids would have the same bond they did. So, it was inevitable we would be the way we were. I was homeschooled until about the 6th grade, and once I was transferred into grade school I didn't really have many friends. Riku, being a year older than me, was not in my class. However, Tidus, being the ever so bold child that he is, decided he was going to become my best friend as soon as I sat at my desk. Since I was the "new girl on the scene" and we were still at that age when having something new was better than having something reliable and older, majority of the boys seemed to take an interest in becoming my friend, while the girls seemed to dislike me for being the boys newest interest. Although Sora was one of those boys who was initially interested in me for being new, he quickly got over it and hung out with Kairi and Riku at school like he always did. I never hung out with them because Kairi was still mad about me being the "new girl" rather than her.

Things were never really settled between Kairi and me (although I don't know why anything had to be settled) until we were about 14. When Sora and Riku began their epic adventure, things changed for all of us. But that's a tale for a different day. Moral of the story: when Kairi came home she seemed different...nicer almost. She seemed to have forgotten any issues we had and just wanted to be friends. Now I'm not entirely full of myself, but I was not just about to drop my guard and become her best friend. Our current relationship reads, "You're not bad, but you aren't fantastic. We could be friends if we tried but due to previous circumstances, we won't try." Confusing right?

As for Sora...I just can't deal with his perma-prep. How is it possible for one person to be that happy all the time?! That rule also applies to Kairi, but that's beside the point. I know Sora doesn't think I know about all his adventures, but I do. And I know Riku doesn't know that I know about his adventures, but I do. I know a lot more than I let on. I know Riku doesn't know much about my adventures either. And tonight, I plan to tell Riku. I plan to tell him everything and anything that I can, because I'm sick of hiding it all from him.

As I walked into the market I picked out everything and anything I'd need for dinner that night. I wanted to wow Riku; I wanted to make the dinner great so he would be focussed more on the food than the story. I also just plain wanted to impress the kid. Don't get me wrong, Riku was gorgeous and I was not about to deny it. But he was like a brother to me, so there was NO way it was gunna go farther than him being eye candy. I always kinda felt like I was plain in comparison of the wonder trio, so maybe I could get an upper hand on my cooking skills.

After purchasing everything I would be in need of that night I walked home to an empty house. My parents decided that it was time for them to go on a vacation with Riku's parents since it had been, "So long since they had alone time as adults." Not like they had three whole years of that...Nevertheless I decided this was a blessing in disguise. I love my parents, but I also just loved my time to be alone and think. Blasting my stereo from the living room I began to prep everything for a dinner.

I'm not really sure how long I had been doing what I do when I felt someone come up and grab me around the waist. I jumped and let out a little yelp as I turned to see Riku's stunning eyes smiling at me.

"Rude..." I mumbled, walking over to my stereo and turning the music down.

"You know, you should really lock your door," Riku commented with a smirk on his face. "Someone who isn't as nice as me could have come in here and snatched you."

I rolled my eyes as I walked back into the kitchen and stirred the pasta on the stove. Riku hopped up on the counter and started swinging his legs back and forth in a child like manner and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Someone's in a good mood," I commented, as his smile grew. "What happened to you today?"

"I just received the best news ever," he said, that smile never leaving his face.

There was silence for a few moments and I drained the pasta.

"So...are you going to tell me what it is?" I asked as I plated the food and headed towards the table.

Riku got up and followed me, shaking his head and saying, "No, I wanna hear your big news before I say anything."

I sighed and sat down at my spot at the table.

"Can we eat first and then I'll tell you? I feel like it'll be less fatal for me if you can't run after me with your food baby."

Riku gave me a sceptical look but reluctantly nodded, knowing I wasn't really going to give him a choice.

We made small talk during dinner, just talking about random things, and once we were done I walked into the kitchen and brought out dessert.

"Oh no..." was Riku's response as I placed the freshly homemade cheesecake in front of him.

"What?" I asked, rather confused.

"You made cheesecake."

"And?"

"Well, whenever you make cheesecake it's always because you have bad news."

I thought about it for a moment, and realized he was right.

"Oh...call it my signature then."

There were a few moments of silence, before I sighed and took off an apron I completely forgot I was wearing, wringing it in my hands to build up the confidence I knew I was going to need to face him.

"Riku...three years ago, when the island was covered in darkness...where...where did you tell me you went?" I asked, not making eye contact.

I could tell he was giving me a weird look, but he responded.

"I told you, I don't really remember much besides a lot of weird darkness."

I sighed, shaking my head. I knew he wouldn't tell me the truth, which kind of hurt.

'I did the same thing though...can't be a hypocrite.'

"Riku, I know you're lying," I stated as I looked up at him.

His face was turning a bit pale, so I continued on.

"Three years ago our island was attacked by heartless. They were in search of the keyhole for our world. The night of the storm, you were faced with a decision, as was Sora: light or dark? You chose the path of darkness, while Sora chose light."

"How...how did you..." he trailed off.

"I know everything Riku. Everything you've kept a secret, I know. Because that night, I was faced with that same decision. I wasn't sure which I wanted. I felt like I wasn't good enough for the light, but not bad enough for the dark. So, I was tossed from one to the other until I landed in a new world. It was there that I met the King."

"You know the King?!" he interjected.

I nodded, and his eyes urged me to continue.

"While Sora travelled with Donald and Goofy - because yes, before you ask I know all about him being the bearer of the Keyblade and Kairi being a princess - and while you worked for Maleficent, I travelled with the King. Once you completely dove into the darkness, WHICH, by the way, I'm kicking your ass for later, the King knew he had to help you. He instructed me to work with DiZ as you faced your inner battles."

"But I worked with DiZ too...and I never saw you!" he commented, making me smile a bit.

"Well, once we had discovered you were going to survive and we realized we needed to use you to help get Sora back on track, I left. What was I needed for anymore right? And besides, someone had to protect the worlds while you two were busy," I joked, causing him to look even more confused.

"Anyway...when Sora started his next adventure, I took some time off to come home and catch up on school. Which is why Kairi never mentioned anything about me not being here. I needed to get ahead and make sure I'd be ready if you guys ever needed me. And that, my dear friend, is my biggest secret."

There was silence for a few moments. I began to clean everything up, knowing Riku was going to need time to let everything sink in. That still did not keep me from being any less nervous as I tried to focus on cleaning the dishes from dinner.

'This was a mistake. A terrible, horrible, stupid mistake.'