Oh god, hello everyone, its me, Jared Someone...

Ok, explanations...but i'll leave that to the end if you wanna know what's been going on in the life of me

For now, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYRA!, ENJOY YOUR (extremely late) BIRTHDAY PREZZIE!

(Apologize for grammar mistakes and others things, you know what i mean)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy series and their characters and places, or the songs "Mercenary" By Panic! at the Disco, "Cash Cash" By Cash Cash, and "My First Kiss" By 3OH!3

10 Things to do before I turn 18

By Jared Someone

X

As the sun finally made it over the topmost mountain of the Destiny Island, the final bus pulled up along the bus stop of the Destiny Island Senior High School. As the many children got off the bus, two very well known students stepped down onto the concrete footpath. Both were dressed in casual clothing, as one of the many customs of the school was that there was no uniform at the school. One of the boys was an albino boy who looked about 18 or 19, with light silver hair who was wearing a pair of blue loose jeans with a number of chains on it, a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a black sleeveless zipper jacket. The other was a tanned Caucasian boy who looked 17, with chocolate brown hair that seemed to defy gravity. His bright blue eyes were looking around at the school, a slight depression in his face as the monday morning meant another entire week at school. As the crowd thinned, his designer jeans and maroon converse high-tops were shown, as well as a black shirt and a blazer with the sleeves rolled up.

As the bright sun hit both their eyes, they both took out a pair of sunglasses, the silver haired a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers, the Brown haired a pair of Black Lends Aviators. They looked around before they headed off beyond the gates into their school.

"I don't get why you're so down Sora," The silver-haired boy said as he noticed a pair of girls swooning over him.

"It's monday morning, I have 3 assessments due and I'm pretty sure the homework i was given for the weekend was due today...take your pick Riku," The boy called Sora said as he glanced at the building, his frown going even lower.

"No, no, no, theres something else," Riku said as he waved to a girl studying on one of the benches, who proceeded to blush and gather her things quickly before running inside.

"Really?" Sora said, skepticism shown through his eyes more than his voice as he looked at Riku behind his glasses.

"Come on Sora, I'm your best friend, have been since I met you at the park 10 years ago, we've been through everything together, i know you, and i know that something besides schoolwork is bothering you,"

Sora remained silent for a few more moments as he noticed many of the girls staring at Riku, smiling as he did. Both the two boys were well known around the school. Both were pranksters, dare-devils, and were members of the school band Advent Children. They had been the eye of many girls wants, and although Riku had taken full advantage of this during their first year there, Sora was known more so as the kind, happy-go-lucky type (although today was deffinately an exception). It took Sora several moments before he responded.

"Riku...in a month i'm going to be 18," He said, to which Riku raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah, i know, i've been planning the birthday bash for almost 6 months now," He said slowly.

"It's just that there are...wait, what birthday bash?" Sora stopped mid sentence as Riku's eyes widened at what he has just said.

Cursing under his breath, Riku smiled before saying, "Nothing Sora, just...nothing,"

Sora looked at his friend with some concern on his face before he continued, "Moving on, there are so many things that I wanted to do before I turned 18, and I just think that I've missed out,"

Riku looked at his friend for a few moments before he smiled. Noticing this, Sora looked at him and said, "What?"

"You know, just last year I remember an old friend of mine by the name of Wakka saying the same thing,"

"Wakka Blitz?" Sora asked, referencing the former-captain of the Destiny Island Senior High Blitzball Team and one of the most popular guys ever to attend the school. He had known about Riku and Blitz' friendship, which was partly the reason why Riku was a tiny bit more well known throughout the school. They had been on the Blitzball team after all.

"He kept saying about how he was turning 18 and he wanted to do so many things, not things like go out and get drunk and wake up in the morning with random women, crazy out-of-this-world stuff that he could still get away with while he was a teenager,"

Noticing the similarities between his and Wakka's thinking, Sora asked, "So, what did he do?"

Smiling, Riku answered, "He made a list, a list of ten activities to do before he turned 18 which he promised himself he would do before his birthday,"

"Did he succeed," Sora asked as the two entered the building, but the world around them completely gone in his eyes.

"Made it with a day to spare," Riku smiled as a group of girls began to do their hair quicker than they had been before Sora and Riku had entered the building.

"...Ten things to do before I turn 18," Sora muttered to himself as he noticed the bell go off.

"Well Sora, I'd love to stay and chat, but unfortunately there is a maths class that apparently just cannot start before I get there," Riku sighed as he stopped walking.

Smirking, Sora asked, "Regretting repeating Year 8?"

Riku sighed before he looked somewhere behind Sora, and smiled, "Well, there are some perks to being the oldest guy here," and before Sora noticed, two extremely pretty girls walked up from behind him, one with bright blonde hair, the other pitch black.

"Riku," Both the girls said as he smiled.

"Paine, Rikku," Riku smiled as he slid his hands behind their backs and began to walk up the closest stairs towards what Sora could only assume was his maths classroom.

Smirking, Sora began to make his way to class. After saying hi to what he believed was half the student body, he finally got to his classroom. He took off his aviators as he located a seat at the back of the classroom. He dumped his bag on top of his desk before he took a seat, and withdrew a pen and his one of many textbooks, this one used to write notes for English, his first class of the day.

"Well hello there Sora,"

Sora knew exactly who it was without even needing to look up. He had known that voice ever since she had walked into his english class at the beginning of that year. He smiled as he looked up from his bag too see a dark red haired girl staring at him with bright deep blue eyes and a smile on her face, dressed in a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a pink shirt with a black bag hanging from her side.

"Miss Kairi, what brings you to such a disturbing place like english?" Sora asked, to which he received a giggle from the girl.

"Well, by some unfortunate chain of events, I was forced to come here and listen to this boring teacher while being distracted by a chocolate-haired guitarist," Kairi said as she slowly lowered herself into her seat.

"Ahh, a punish worse than death," Sora smiled as the two laughed.

Kairi Lockhart had joined the school a little late after her mother, Martial Artist Tifa Lockhart had moved from the luscious and busy Midgar to be taken to the quiet and comfortable Destiny Islands. She, along with her sister, Art Student Namine, had begun the school earlier that year. Sora remembered the day quite well, he had been sitting in his english class, personally hating their teacher for the amount of books they had to read for the holidays, When Kairi had walked in. Since then, Sora had had a crush on her. Everything about her, from her long hair to the way she had to wear these cute glasses to read the book they were studying, the way she laughed every time he made a joke, the foot fights they would have when they were sure the teacher wasn't looking, the-

"MR STRIFE!"

Sora snapped out of his dream status to see his English Teacher, a woman by the name of Arlene Larxene looking directly at her.

"Yes, Ms Larxene?" Sora smiled as the whole class looked between Larxene and Sora.

"I was asking what was so interesting to have that look on your face?"

Thinking fast, Sora smiled as he leaned back and answered, "I'm just so happy that on a monday morning I am able to sit here and be in the grace of such an excellent teacher such as yourself,"

Everyone else chuckled at the heavy sarcasm in Sora's voice, as Larxene glared.

"If there is something wrong with my teaching, feel free to take it up with Principal Eraqus," Larxene was of course referring to Nixe Eraqus, Principal of the school.

"Why would I want to complain?" Sora asked with a charming smile on his face.

"Then snap to attention or I'll send you to his office...again...now, everyone turn to page-"

Sora soon lost interest in his teachers wording. It was usually about this time that Sora would begin to have an all out foot war with the girl he liked, but today he had more important issues to deal with.

Slowly and carefully he managed to rip a piece of paper from his book. When it had finally come off, Sora took out his pen and began to think. He began to think of 10 things that he had always wanted to do before he turned into a legal adult. Ten things that he could do before he turned into a mature, respectable adult.

Or, an adult at least.

It took him almost all the lesson, but after much thinking and none of it on his schoolwork, he eventually came up with 10 actions that he could do in the month that was leading up to his birthday. As the bell rang letting him know that his next class was on, he quickly grabbed his books and his bag and ran out of the classroom, leaving a slightly depressed Kairi standing there, depressed that she had not gotten to talk to the chocolate haired boy like she usually did.

It didn't take him that long to find his best friend, as the two had music next. As Riku was leaning against the wall practicing notes on his air guitar, he looked up casually to see Sora running towards him.

"Riku!" he exclaimed, as he crouched down gasping for air, due to the fact he had had to run across from the other end of the school grounds to get to his music class. His current state had also gained the attention of two more students, two students who were also popular and well known throughout the school. The remaining two members of Advent Children. Two students by the name of Lea "Axel" Valentine and Roxas Fair.

"What's he running for? Siax isn't going to care if he's a couple of minutes late?" Axel said as he flicked his fire red hair out of the way of his eyes.

"What's up Sora?" Riku asked, ignoring Axel.

"I finished...the list," He said, panting for sweet oxygen.

"List? What's he talking about Riku?" Roxas asked.

"Long story," Riku glanced at Sora as he held out his hand, to which Sora took out his list and handed it to Riku.

Riku glanced at the ten points on the list, before he smiled and looked at his best friend, "Don't worry Sora, we will get all of these things done before you turn 18,"

"Can someone please fill us in?" Axel asked, waving his hands about in frustration.

"I made a list of 10 things that I want to do before I turn 18," Sora said to the two.

"And we are going to help him?" Riku said.

"We?" Roxas asked, not sure he had heard Riku correctly.

"Yes Roxas, we, some of these things will take courage, bribery, skill, and maybe some illegal activity, but we will get these things done in a month," Riku held up the paper, the challenge accepted in his eyes.

"Let me see this list, " Axel said as he went to grab the piece of paper, but Riku shoved it into his pocket.

"We think it's better if you don't see,"

"...Why?" Axel asked.

"Let's just say we want to surprise you," Riku smiled at his clueless best friend.

"Alright, then I won't do it," Axel crossed his arms

But Riku shook his finger, "Too Late Axel, you agreed to this the minute you became one of Sora's best friends,"

Axel grumbled, but eventually smiled, "Sure, I didn't have a reason to get myself arrested this month, but it's nice to know I've got one,"

Sora smiled as he turned to Roxas, "Well Roxas, how do you feel about doing some dangerous, risk-taking activities?"

Roxas smiled as he withdrew a small camera from his bag and chucked it into the air, "You know I'll be there videoing every moment,"

"Alright then," Sora smiled at his three friends, "One month boys...lets get started,"

Ten things to do before i turn 18

Fate Bridge was one of the oldest structures on the Destiny Island. It was known for being the only thing that connected The Rich (Twilight Town) and Poor (Traverse Town) Sections of the Destiny Islands. It was also well known for being about 1000 feet above sea level, and being a place where many daredevils and risk takers liked to get their hit of adrenaline from bungie jumping from the bridge into the water below and back up again.

It was also the place where the 4 boys were currently standing, looking down into the depths below.

"Sora," Axel said as he adjusted his tie, "You're one crazy son of a bitch,"

Sora took a deep breath as he smiled, "That's why you love me,"

"No Sora, I'm pretty sure I'm hating you big time right about now?"

"Why are you hating on me Axel?"

Axel rounded at his best friend with a look of Why do you think plastered on his face, "Sora, I'm currently standing on this bridge dressed to the nines about to dive head first into the water 500 meters away all because you wanna go nuts before you turn 18...exactly what part of this is supposed to make me love you?"

Sora straightened his white tie as he smiled at his friend, "Please...you're more excited then I am..."

"...Sora, if I could go back in time, I would make sure that I never sat at your desk that first music lesson, so that we never joined a band, and I would not be in this situation right now,"

Sora chuckled, "Sure you would Axel," and turned away, not listening to Axel yelling "I WAS BEING SERIOUS!" and made his way towards Riku.

"I still cannot believed you got us here...and in suits no less, what happened to all that protective gear?"

"What, that?" Riku scoffed, "That's mostly just for show, to make the people feel safe...no, the only thing you need is a hook and you should be fine...besides, you can get away with anything when money is involved,"

Sora looked towards Roxas, who was busy fiddling with his camera, dressed in a suit like the others.

"Wish he would hurry up," Sora muttered, to which Roxas looked up.

"YOU CAN'T RUSH THIS SORT OF THING!" Roxas yelled, and both Sora and Riku's eyes widened.

"Damn his hearing," Sora stated.

"That hearing is going to get us killed one day," Riku muttered.

"YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!"

"GOD DAMN IT ROXAS, STOP LISTENING IN ON OUR CONVERSATION AND GET THE CAMERA WORKING!"

Roxas backed off as he began playing with it once again, before he smiled.

"Right, all ready," He grinned and Axel groaned as he walked over to Riku.

"Riku, level with me, you have alcohol stashed away somewhere to get you through this don't you,"

Riku blinked at Axel, "...right, because the one time I want to be incapacitated is when i'm about to jump of this bridge,"

"So you do understand what i'm going through," Axel smiled, his red tie blowing in the breeze.

Riku sweat dropped, "Axel...go eat some cement and harden the fuck up,"

Axel walked away muttering something about already having balls as the instructor came around, "Right guys, now what you want to do is keep your legs together, and above all else try not to flail around, that should give you the maximum enjoyment and an equal amount of safety...now, any questions?"

Axel raised his hand, "Yeah, I've got one, has anyone ever died from this sort of thing before?"

The instructor laughed, "Oh no, no one dies from this sort of thing..."

"See Axel, nothing to worry about," Sora smiled.

"A concussion here, coma there, loss of bowel contents more than ever, but never died," The instructor finished as he walked away.

"Great," Axel face-palmed himself, "Im not going to die, but i'm sure as hell going to crap myself,"

Sora took a deep breath as he walked to the edge of the bridge, "You ready for this?"

"Oh, we get a choice in the matter? then no, I'm gonna go with the not jumping off the bridge option," Axel said and made to turn around before he was dragged back by Riku. Sighing, and saying a little prayer, promising God to give up Booze and gambling for the rest of the week if he didn't die, all four lined up, and Sora counted off.

3

2

1

"...HOLY MOTHER OF GOD FUCKING HELL OHH SHIT FUCK ME NOOO AHHHH FUCK,"

Sora ignored the extreme cursing as he felt the adrenaline reach his head. The wind sailed about like anything as he felt his entire body heading towards the water at break neck speed, and just as he was about to hit the water, he felt the elastic take hold of him, and pull him back up.

Meanwhile at the other end...

"FUCK OH GOD PLEASE NO FUCK LET IT END HOLY MOTHER OF SHIT GOD AHHHH!

Axel was screaming like a woman, he was keeping his eyes closed, which didn't help when a boat full of 7 year olds on some sort of field trip made its way past the four bobbing teenagers, all looking at the fiery red-head guy swearing his arse off, the teachers all looking at this man in shock. When he finally opened his eyes and realized what he was doing, bobbing up and down ever so slightly, he grinned with embarrassment all over his face.

"...hi kids,"

X. Bungie jump off of fate bridge dressed in a suit.

The boat came up to the harbor swiftly and quickly, stopping just before it looked like it was going to crash into the harbor. The bridge came across, and the first two people to come off were Sora and Riku, shinning their passes as they gained entrance.

"Feeling nervous Sora?" Riku asked as he shone his pass into the second exit.

"A bit...I've never done anything like this before," Sora chuckled slowly.

"That's why its on the list isn't it," Riku smiled, and his friend nodded his head as they passed the final checkpoint out into the island.

They were on Roadway Island.

The entire island was one giant road track, usually used to host the Destiny Islands Grand Prix, but today it was barren, with no one there. With Riku's connections and favors, they had managed to get the track.

But that was only half the objective complete.

The other half was currently roaring towards them at breakneck speed.

From the distance, Sora and Riku both lowered their glasses to watch a shiny black car hurdling towards them. Neither one jumped out of the way as the car skidded towards a stop in front of them. The two smiled as they took off their glasses and watched the door open, revealing Axel,who was smiling as he took out the keys from the ignition.

"No trouble getting it then?" Riku asked as he gazed over the car.

"Not too much, I snuck it out of my dad's car yard without him knowing a thing, just as long as we don't get a scratch on it, then we'll be fine," Axel smiled, before he turned to face Sora, "Please don't get a scratch on it Sora...I can't afford an OBLIVION XI on my work salary,"

Smiling as he caught the keys Axel had just thrown, Sora said, "Don't worry Axel, ill drive it, then you can get it back to your dad and without so much of a scratch on it,"

Axel nodded his head as he turned to the car, before he realized something and sighed.

"Roxas, you can get out of the car now,"

Sora and Riku looked at each other before they bent down to get a better view. They looked through the window to see Roxas with both of his hands clutching at the handle for dear life and his eyes wider then anything.

"Is he alright?" Sora asked.

"He's fine, he's just not used to my driving," Axel smiled as he looked at the two.

"I think his heart has stopped beating," Sora noticed as Riku leaned forward and placed his two fingers onto his neck.

"...I don't think i've ever felt a heart beat go any faster than that,"

"Roxas, snap out of it," Sora clicked his fingers over his friends blue eyes, but he remained focused.

"He's just being a drama queen," Axel said as Riku tried to pry his friends hands away from the handle.

"I think they're stuck," Riku groaned as he tried with all his might to move his friends arms.

"How are we going to get him off?" Sora asked.

"Anyone got a bucket of water? or a taser?" Riku grunted, still trying to remove his friends arms from the handle

"I've got an idea," Axel smiled as he turned away and looked into the distance.

"Gee, is that Namine over there?"

Not only did Roxas move faster then anything Sora had seen before in his life, but because Riku had been holding onto his arms, he was thrown across the seats and onto the ground.

Axel smiled, "Worked like a charm," he closed his eyes and leaned against the door as Roxas ran his hand through his hair and looked this way and that.

"Where's Namine?" He asked

"Not here, but the more important question is, where's the camera?" Sora asked as he helped up Riku, who was currently grumbling and death staring a smiling Axel.

"In the back seat," Roxas muttered as he continued looking, hoping that the gorgeous blonde was still somewhere around.

"Right, everyone ready?" Sora asked as Riku crossed to the front seat.

"SHOTGUN!" Axel said as he jumped into the front seat, and looked up, expecting to see an angry Riku.

But instead Riku had an evil grin on his face, and he locked eye contact with Axel as he slowly and dramatically closed the door. Axel wondered what that was about, and looked over his shoulder to find Riku had already gotten into the car and was still evil-smirking at him. Axel smiled nervously as he turned to face the front, wondering what was up with the silver-haired boy.

Once Roxas was finally convinced that Namine was not anywhere in sight, he got in the car, turned on his camera and faced it at Sora.

"What's the most this car has ever done Axel?" Sora asked, both his hands on the wheel and looking into the distance with determination in his sight.

"Well, 170 km/H, but of course-"

"And whats the most it can do?"

Axel was taken aback by the quick question, and took him a moment to answer as Sora placed the keys into the ignition, "Ah, bout 270 I think,"

"Perfect," Sora smiled as he turned the keys on, while Axel put two and two together and gasped.

"Wait, we're not going t-"

"Oh yes we are," Riku said slowly at Axel with his evil grin, and Axel gasped as he realized Riku's evil plan

"Oh you son of a-" But his words were lost as Sora hit the pedal with all force he could, and the car sped off.

45, 50, 55

"Sora, please think about this, think about me, think about Roxas, but more importantly, THINK ABOUT ME!" Axel begged as his hands dove for the handle

But it was no logger there.

75, 80, 85.

"My God, he's more dangerous then Axel," Roxas stated as Riku looked out the window with a sign of determination.

"Just make sure you keep that camera on," Riku said, but he was interrupted.

110, 115, 120.

"WHO THE HELL TOOK OUT MY HANDLE!"

Axel was busy frantically looking for the little bit of plastic, but Sora was concentrating on the long stretch of road, his foot on the peddle, and the adrenaline that was currently rushing through his head.

He felt the wind brushing through his hair, even though the windows were both firmly closed. He was getting ready for the rush of shock that he would feel from the speed.

155, 160, 165.

"I CAN'T FIND THE HANDLE! WHERE THE HELL HAS IT GONE!"

"Wow, Axel is going nuts," Roxas said, his right hand holding onto his handle while his left was filming his response, "I wonder where his handle is,"

Riku smiled at Roxas as he held up the little bit of Plastic in front of Roxas.

Roxas looked from the handle, to Riku, to the handle, to Axel freaking out, and let out a cough.

"How fast did you go to get it out?"

Riku smile turned back into his evil grin, "I'm very sneaky,"

185, 190, 195.

"OH FUCK GOD AHHH FUCK NO GOD FUCK ME NOOOO!"

Giving up on ever finding the handle that was in Riku's hot little hands, Axel grabbed onto the seat, his fingers digging into the leather for dear life. But Sora had his eyes focused, the adrenaline was just enough to make him love was he was doing.

200

He had done it, against all odds, he had finally reached the speed of 200km/H in a car. And he now knew what it felt like. he had heard stories from people who had heard it from their friends, but nothing that he heard could really compare to what he was feeling at that moment. The Adrenaline was like a drug, a euphoric drug that made him feel alive.

Holding the speed for 5 seconds, his foot left the peddle and hit the breaks harder then anything. The screeching sound hit all their ears as the speedometer's pin dropped from 200 to 0, and after achieving a distance of almost 40 feet, the car finally stopped.

Whooping, Sora took the keys out of the engine and stepped out, taking a breath to allow the adrenaline to slowly go, as Riku was the second to get out of the car, he looked at Sora and laughed.

"Sora...You are a crazy son of a bitch," He laughed, and Sora just winked as he placed his glasses on and watched Roxas get out, shaking quite badly.

"You all right there Rox?" Sora asked, and Roxas nodded his head.

"Just let me get my breath back," He chuckled as he took a deep breath, to which his hand went for his nose.

"Oh, god...whats that smell,"

Sora took a breath too and also reached for his nose, looking at Riku for answers, who opened the door and looked at Axel.

"...I think Axel has shat himself,"

IX. Drive a car 200km/H

The sun was blaring down over the beach, a perfect day for any Destiny Islander. On the small set of Islands, the custom was swimming, and due to the usual hot days through all four seasons, you would find many people sitting on the sand, sun baking, or in the water, splashing or swimming, or, in some cases, Surfing.

It looked like the four friends would be doing the latter today.

Sora, Riku and Roxas were all looking towards the water, each wearing a pair of board shorts and revealing their muscular torsos, and all carrying a surfboard, with Roxas wrapping his camera into a plastic bag.

Axel, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"AXEL, HURRY UP!" Riku shouted towards the change-rooms right behind them.

"NO! I CHANGED MY MIND! IM NOT COMING OUT!"

Riku face-palmed himself, "COME ON, WE'RE GOING TO MISS THE BIGGEST WAVE OF THEM ALL!"

"IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'RE MORTALLY AFRAID OF BIG WAVES RIKU!" The sound echoed from the change-rooms, causing many people to turn and look towards the building to Riku and back again.

"COME ON AXE! IT'S TIME TO FACE YOR FEARS!"

"YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO IT WITHOUT ME GUYS!"

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" Riku muttered as he made his way towards the change-rooms, disappearing and reappearing dragging Axel like he was a child being dragged away from a playground.

He even sounded like one.

"NO! YOU CANNOT MAKE ME GO TO THAT WAVE, I WANNA STAY IN MY CUBICAL! I WANNA I WANNA I WANNA I WA-"

The boy was instantly silenced when Riku grabbed him by the collar and slapped him over the face, "MAN UP BRO!"

The red mark on Axel's face almost matched his hair as his lip quivered at the sight of this silver haired fury.

Roxas sighed as he walked up to Riku, and muttered into his ear, "Let me handle this,"

Riku looked at Roxas for a moment, before he nodded and moved away, allowing Roxas to move up to Axel.

"Hey there buddy," Roxas said in a kind voice, the one a mother might give to her child, "What's going on huh?"

Axel crossed his arms and looked at him, "Don't wanna ride the wave,"

"I know you don't," Roxas smiled as he rubbed his back.

"Hmph," Axel said as he looked down.

"You know, there are a lot of women around here," Roxas watched as Axel slowly looked up and around.

"Yeah...yeah they are," Axel said slowly.

"And you know what they would like more than anything?" Roxas said slowly.

"...what?"

"They would love to see a hot surfer boy ridding a big wave,"

At once, and with fear instantly gone from his eyes, Axel picked up his surf board and was running towards the water, the board over his head as he was yelling some sort of chant at it.

"That...is incredible," Riku simply stated as he watched the boy jumping in and out of the water as he picked up his board and began to make his way towards said water.

Roxas merely shrugged, "You just gotta know how to handle him," As he pressed a button on the camera, smiled, and began walking towards the water.

Sora just smiled at his group of hilarious idiots and picked up his board, took a deep breath and made his way towards the water.

-Elsewhere on Twilight Beach-

Kairi sighed as she lied into her beach towel, the burning sun giving her a nice tan. She closed her eyes as she felt every single inch of her body melt into her towel, never wanting to move from this spot for anything, be it school, home, work...

...although she may have moved for one person.

The sigh next to her caused her to look to her left, revealing her sister Namine, perched under an extremely large beach umbrella with her face buried in a sketchpad and pen, dressed like she was at the mall in a white t-shirt and dark blue jeans, not for the beach like Kairi was in her maroon bikini.

"Something wrong Nam?" Kairi asked, and Namine glanced up from her drawing.

"You know how I feel about the Beach Kairi. Sand, water..." Namine shivered despite the hot son, "...people,"

"Cheer up Nam, you never know, some hot surfer dude might decide to walk by and pose for you," Kairi winked, but the thought of this again sent shivers down the girls spine.

"No thanks, would not be interested in the slightest,"

"...then would you settle for a Roxas?"

The Lockhart girls looked up to see best friends Selphie Tilmitt and Xion Wise in front of them, each carrying two Sea Salt Ice Creams, one for themselves and the other for the two girls.

"Come again?" Kairi asked, as Namine had suddenly developed a serious blush over her face.

"We just saw Roxas, Riku, Axel and Sora all walking towards the water with surfing boards in hands," Selphie stated as Xion gracefully began licking her ice cream in such a seductive manor that several guys walking past turned to stop, hide themselves and walk away.

"Wait, why are they surfing now?" Namine asked, clearly having gotten over her blushing, but both shrugged.

"Something wrong Namine?" Kairi asked, as she looked at her sister who was clearly troubled.

"Yeah...it's almost that time," She said as she bit her lip, as the entire place seemed to get darker.

"Time for what?" Kairi asked, and the four girls moved away from their place towards the water with everyone else, as they began to see the waves get bigger and bigger.

-Back in the water-

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE WOMEN ANY MORE!"

This time the reason Axel was screaming was not because he was scared (Which he was), but rather because he was trying to be heard over the crashing waves.

"COME ON AXEL, WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" Riku screamed as he traveled over a wave, and fell back down.

Axel's next words were blocked from a voice coming from an intense megaphone from shore.

"WOULD THE FOUR BOYS IN THE WATER PLEASE VACATE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY,"

"YOU HEARD THE LOUD VOICE GUYS, TIME TO GET OUT," Axel began to turn around when he was grabbed by Riku.

"FAT CHANCE BUDDY, THERES NO WAY OUT!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABO-" But Axel suddenly looked up and instantly knew what he was talking about.

Sora looked at the wave with a respectful awe, before he turned to Roxas and smiled at both the boy and the camera, before he turned around and began to make his way towards the shore, ready to ride it.

Axel, on the other hand, opted for a different approach.

"OH GOD IT'S ULTIMECIA! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE, OH FUCK, NOOOOO!" and instead of getting up like the other guys, his nails drilled into the surfboard and hung on for dear life.

With seconds away from the board touching the water, Sora jumped up with both skill and grace, before he began to control the board, remembering what his father had taught him about surfing on his 16th birthday.

"Always remember, Sora, No matter how big the wave is, you control the wave, it does not control you,"

Nodding at the father voice in his head, Sora began to ride the wave on the side, seeing the water cover him, like a tunnel. He breathed in the salty air, and suddenly had a craving for sea salt ice cream.

He made a mental note to buy some after surfing.

He chanced a glance behind him, and saw that Riku was surfing almost as good as he way, whooping as he did, Whereas Roxas, who clearly had the harder job of both controlling his board and making sure the filming was good. Why he had not just put it to the front of the board Sora would never know, but that was Roxas of course, always doing things the difficult way to get the best angle.

And Axel...Axel was no where in sight.

Seeing the beach in plain sight, Sora took a last breath as he began to drive his board towards the beach, swerving to try and beat the waves. As the waves were crashing down all around him, Sora smiled as he swerved around, heading straight towards the beach as the waves came tumbling on top of himself, Riku, Roxas and (The hopefully still alive) Axel.

The large crowd who had gathered to watch the four daredevils all gasped as the water grabbed them, but then the thoughts of whether they were still alive changed to cheers as a blob of brown, silver and blonde hair dove up, smiling and waving at their admiring public.

The three moved to the beach, boards in hand, smiling and high-five'ing each other before they began to look around, looking for something.

Or perhaps a red-head someone.

"OI! ANYONE AROUND HERE SEEN AXEL, BOUT 6 FOOT 5, RED HAIR, SCARED SHITLESS!" Riku yelled, and they only waited a few seconds before a response came from down the beach.

"HE'S OVER HERE!" And at once the three began running towards him, before they stopped at his sight.

Axel was still clinging to his surfboard, his red hair covering his eyes, and his entire body shaking from both the water and (what they could only assume) was fright.

"...is he going to be ok?" Asked a voice from the audience.

"He should be fine," Riku responded, before stopping for a moment and saying, "...But he may need to get that board surgically removed from his grip,"

From a distance away, The four girls watched as the three boys picked up the frightened Axel and began to drag him away, Kairi smiling at the brown haired boy grinning as they did.

"Bunch of idiots they are," Xion said as she shook her head.

"I hope Roxas is ok," Namine trembled, not believing that he was fine despite his laughing and checking his video footage.

"They are...brave aren't they," Kairi smiled at them.

"They're idiot's Kai, plain and simple, " Xion said.

"But remember Xion," Selphie said, "Bravery and Idiocy are not always mutually exclusive,"

Kairi smiled, "In other words...they're brave idiots,"

VIII. Ride Ultimecia.

"...CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME THE LEVEL OF INTENSITY ON THIS LIST!"

Sora sighed as he was sitting in his white towel, enjoy the relaxation of the Hot Fumes coming from one of the many Sauna's in "Hades Underworld,"

"Calm your Chocobo farm Axel," Riku said with his eyes closed and leaning back, "We realize we've been doing some strenuous shit and decided we would take a break...besides, Sora's never been in a Sauna before,"

"And now that I'm in one, I don't think I'll ever leave," Sora smiled as he leaned back.

Axel grumbled, before he noticed something and was distracted.

Roxas, who was busy filming the guys all relaxing as part of the video, instantly noticed what Axel had been distracted with, and flew into an outrage.

"AXEL! STOP LOOKING AT MY JUNK!"

VII. Sit in a Sauna.

Radiant Garden was widely recognized as one of the largest resorts on the planet, full of women, gambling and shows. It was to Destiny Islands what Sector 18 was to the United States of Midgar, an entire island built with casinos and hotels where people could relax and have a good time.

And it was currently where the boys were at the present time.

With only two weeks left till Sora's birthday, the boys had to get plane tickets to the island quickly and quietly, having told their parents they would all be staying at Riku's house, and with Riku's parents out of town visiting Midgar for the week, Riku had been able to procure some tickets thanks to his fathers Unlimited Munny Card and a use of his fake I.D printing press, they were able to get First Class on the Shera 101, and in a few hours, they were touching down in Radiant Garden Airport, and heading to Kingdom Hearts Resort, the most popular Hotel throughout Radiant Garden.

After checking in and getting ready, the four had dressed in the finest suit's Riku's card allowed them to buy before they made their way to the limo.

"The Coliseum...no...Atlantis...no...Wonderland..definitely not, i owe 1,000,000M to one of the tables..." Riku was flicking through the brochure to find a place for them to gamble, wearing his usual ray-bands and a black suit with loose tie and silver shirt.

"Now this is something i can get into, nothing dangerous, nothing thats going to kill me, just a simple gambling trip," Axel smiled, having opted to go with the no tie fire red shirt along with his black suit and a pair of tea-shades, was looking at all the bright lights around.

"I still cannot believe how easily you managed to plan all this together in such a short time," Roxas pointed his camera at Riku, who looked up from his brochure.

"You can get almost anything with Munny, Roxas...remember that," Riku smiled as he returned back to the brochure, before smiling and hitting the paper.

"Got it," Riku tapped on the window before saying, "Take us to Hallow Bastion, on the double," And Riku smiled as he took a sip of his alcoholic drink as the car smoothly and quickly made its way to the center of the island.

In no time at all the car had arrived, and after Riku had generously tipped the man, asking him to come back when the sun had come up, the four friends made their way through the doors towards the gate area, Roxas with his camera pointed anywhere and everywhere. Axel smiling as a toothpick sat lazily in his mouth, Riku smiling and winking at every women in the area, and Sora smiling as they passed through every security guard with their Fake I.D cards working better than anything. Once they had passed the final guard, the four took a look at the area in front of them, and couldn't help but whistle.

Quite simply, the area was huge.

Gambling tables with every sort of of game imaginable were currently being played, a bar area with any type of drink, with TV sets showing Blitzball, Struggle Matches and Chocobo Races, all with the ability to make any type of bet at any time.

"Right, where too first?" Roxas pointed the camera at Sora, who smiled as he found the place that he was looking for, and without making any sort of gesture, he and his friends made their way towards one of the tables, which were currently playing Poker, Specifically Texas Hold 'Em.

"Where do we go to exchange?" Axel asked, his eyes widened and ready to make some money.

"At the table you idiot," Riku muttered as he smiled at the female dealer who gazed away and continued setting out cards.

"Come on then," Sora smiled as he made his way to the table where Riku was busy exchanging looks with the dealer, and sat down, along with Riku and Axel, where two men with Silver hair were sitting. Each looked at the boys sitting down and scoffed.

"This is not a table for boys," One of them said, a hint of someone egotistical glistening over him.

"You still have a chance to get out," The other said, this one actually sounded terrifying.

Smiling, Sora, Riku and Axel both placed down 50,000M in notes on the table and said in union, "Change for chips,"

The dealer, shocked that this sort of money was being placed by men of young age, nodded her head as she took the money and exchanged it for chips, all divided into Red, Blue, Green, White and Black, but all having a heart with a cross in them, the symbol for the casino.

Before the dealer even had time to say anything, the three boys anti'd up by placing in one white chip, before looking at the two older men, who were a bit cautious.

"Baron Gabbiani?" The dealer asked, and the egotistical man just smiled.

"Call me Setzer darling," he winked as he threw in a white chip.

Ignoring the flirtation, the woman turned to the other man, "Sephiroth?"

"Bit informal there?" The man looked at her, and she looked away, before responding, "Sorry, Mr. Jenova?"

The man called Sephiroth looked from the dealer to the three boys, before smiling and placed his chip in the pot.

"Alright then, everyones playing," The dealer smiled, and with that, she began to deal out the cards.

10 minutes later.

"20,000," Setzer said as he placed the necessary amount of chips into the pot, and looked over to his opponent, who was calmly looking from setzer to his cards and back again, before smiling and matching his bet, and increasing it by 500M.

Riku, Axel and Sephiroth, had all opted out when the pot had reached 200,000M, but Setzer, who was obviously not a man who lost often, was not going to back down easily, and Sora, who could now start feeling the rush, was concentrating on not giving anything away.

They were locked.

Setzer looked at the cards currently on the table. Currently there were A King, Ace and 10 of Clubs, a 7 of spaces, and an Ace of Hearts, a rather good set for Setzer, especially when he reminded himself that he had an Ace of Spades and an Ace of Diamonds, he couldn't lose with the hand he had been dealt, and yet this kid kept going up and up, like he had some sort of death sentence.

Well, there was one way to show he was playing with the big boys.

Setzer looked into Sora's eyes for one final time, and locked them in contact as he pushed all of his chips into the pot while saying two words.

"All In,"

The members of the game, not to mention the spectators who were all watching, ooo'ed as the dealer took a quick look at how much was in.

"Now in the pot: 578,000M," And Setzer smiled as he looked straight at the kid.

"Come now Sam, you simply cannot afford to put all of your money in there now," He smiled as he took a sip of whiskey from his cup, before winking at the brown haired boy.

But said boy just smiled at him.

"The name is Sora," And with that, Sora pushed all his chips into the pot, "All in,"

Again, ooo's echoed throughout the audience made it hard for the dealer to count the Munny currently sitting in the pot, and took her 2 extra minutes before she announced, "Now in the Pot: 590,000M

"Nice," Was all Riku was able to say as the dealer took attention back, "Alright gentlemen, reveal your cards,"

Setzer went first, and let a single sweat fall from his brow as he flipped over his two cards and laughed in premature triumph.

"Four of a kind," The dealer said as she moved the cards for everyone too see.

"And you, Mr. Strife?" The dealer asked as Sora let out a sigh with his hands to his mouth, giving Setzer a moment when he thought he had won...before a smile appeared on Sora's face and his hands lowered to the cards and in a swift movement flipped the over.

A Queen and Jack of Clubs.

Also known as a...

"Royal Flush, Mr. Strife wins," The dealer dragged the chips back, as Sora sighed, Axel cheered and Riku slapped his friend on the back, "You lucky son of a bitch,"

"NO! THIS IS! NO!" Setzer dropped to his knees as Sora said, "My dear, would you exchange that for something I can carry easily and out of here...oh, and here's something for yourself," Sora gave her 3 black chips, which she took gracefully and graciously as she said, "Of course Mr. Strife,"

Sezter had not moved from disbelief, before he looked closely at the group and said, "Hang on...how old are you?"

Sora froze at the comment, before laughing unsurely and saying, "What?"

"You look...underage,"

"I have...no idea, what are you...what?" Sora stumbled, his Pokerface from the game instantly gone.

"I knew it...SECURITY! UNDERAGE CHILDREN IN THE POKER AREA!"

At once men in black suits were running towards their poker table, and Riku tapped Sora's shoulder., "Cover blown, time to go,"

"I agree, after you," And after grabbing the money, the four boys began running, trying to make their way quickly towards the door, bumping into almost everyone in the area. They were almost in the clear, until they got to the front hall area...and saw the hundreds of guards staring at them.

"Umm...here you go Axel," Sora chucked the bundle of money to the clueless pawn, and the three boys took flight as the red-head stared at the money.

"GET THE ONE WITH THE MONEY!" One of the guards said, and Axel sweat-dropped.

"Sora, you son of a-" But Axel didn't finished his cursing as he was crushed by 20 black guards, all looking like they were playing a game of stacks on with the poor high school boy.

VI. Play High Stakes Poker.

The early morning was a time where most would find themselves in bed and catching up on a few winks of sleep, however, today on Sora Strife's Agenda was to be awake at 7am sitting on one of the only boats in the enormous Lake Dawn, sitting, waiting for the fish to come up to his boat.

And he was loving every minute of it.

"Anything biting?" Sora looked up from the edge of the boat to see a man, looking like an older version of him, with blonde spiky hair and a smile on his face.

"Nothing yet dad," Sora smiled at his father, Cloud Strife.

"Well don't worry, they'll be biting any minute now," Cloud said as he threw his line into the water.

"You know what Dad...I'm pretty sure they will be," Sora smiled as he threw his line in again "...Any minute now"

Any minute later...

"I'm on a boat, I'm on a boat, take a good hard look at the Motherfucking boat!"

At another side of the lake, Riku, Axel and Roxas were busy spying on Sora and his Father fishing, sitting on a large boat with an even larger net of live fish that Riku had bought in bulk from the market. He currently was using a large set of black binoculars pointed directly at Sora's fathers boat, Roxas with the camera pointed between Riku and the location the binoculars were pointed, and Axel who was currently dancing behind them with his headphones stuck in singing loudly.

Riku, who had just about had enough of his friends bad singing, promptly turned around, ripped out his friends Music Player and threw it as far as he could into the water.

"..OI! THAT WAS MY SPOD!" Axel roared.

"Quit your bitching, ill buy you a new sPod later," Riku muttered as he returned back to spying on Sora and Cloud.

"Nope, i want an sPhone now...actually, make it a sPhone+,"

"...I can either by you a new sPod, or I can throw you in the water and you can find your old one," Riku muttered, and soon Axel retracted his statement.

"Oh wait, is that the signal," Roxas asked, and Riku waited a few more moments before he smiled, "One-finger salute and a tap on his shoulder, thats the signal," Riku placed the binoculars down and moved over to the net, "Come on Axel, give me a hand,"

"Me! What about Roxas?"

"Im holding the camera numb-nuts, it's got to be you,"

Grumbling about life not being fair, Axel walked over and began to help Riku with the large amount,"

"Oh God, why is this so heavy!" Axel groaned, and Riku once again promptly told him to quit his bitching as they both heaved the net of fish over to the side closest to Sora and Cloud, before dumping the net into the water.

"Well, what now?" Axel asked as Riku ran back to the binoculars and began looking through them again.

"Wait for it...wait for iiiiitttttttt," Riku waited a minute longer before he began to smile.

"What?" Axel asked and Riku handed the binoculars to him, "Take a look for yourself,"

Looking through the binoculars, Axel watched as both Sora and Cloud were suddenly overrun with hundreds of fish that were literally jumping into their boat.

"Our work here is done," Riku smiled, and with that, he ran up to the deck and began to direct the boat back to land.

V. Go fishing with my dad.

"Sora...can i just ask...why do you hate us?"

"Axel, Quit your bit-"

"NO! NO I WILL NO QUIT MY BITCHING!"

It was the week of Sora's birthday, the very beginning of the week, a monday. Sora's official birthday was that friday, and with time closing in on them, they had to get many of the activities on Sora's list finished before it was too late.

However, when Axel had been told what activity was next, he had point blank refused to go through with it.

Of course, no one said no to Sora's best friend.

"You're doing it Axel, No buts, no bitching," Riku muttered as he shivered.

It was almost lunch time, with minutes left on the bell before their high school comrades would be leaving their classes going to get something to eat. The four boys were currently in the mens bathroom, each occupying one of the stores.

"Sora, i'm not really comfortable doing this," Roxas muttered, clearly embarrassed at what he was doing.

"It's ok Roxas, once we get to it it'll be easy to go through with,"

"OH, SO ROXAS GETS A NICE 'It's ok' AND I GET TOLD TO SH-"

"Shut up, Axel," Sora and Riku said.

Axel grumbled again as Sora took a deep breath, "Alright Boys, you ready?"

"Yes,"

"I suppose,"

"Fuck...no,"

"Alright then...one, two three...GO!"

The stalls opened, and the four boys ran out.

...Naked.

Once they had rounded into the main corridor, many of the people who were just coming out of the classes failed to notice the nudity of the boys.

But that only lasted a few moments.

A few feints here, wolf whistles there. Riku winked when he saw a couple of the girls whispering and pointing to his pelvic region, as Sora was just laughing as he lead the group.

A bit ahead of them Kairi, Xion and Namine were walking out of their Ancient History Lesson.

"I just don't understand it," Namine said as she let out a large sigh, confused with the work they had just learnt.

"I don't see how you don't get it, it's simple, Pompei was buried on the 24th August 79AD, and 1700 years later it was 'Accidentally' discovered by..." But Kairi never got to finish her teaching of their previous class, as at that moment, The four boys ran round the corner and smiled at the girls as they continued running.

Namine feinted

Xion's jaw hit the floor.

And Kairi just blushed.

"Do you think they enjoyed what they saw?" Sora asked as they began to head towards the cafeteria.

"Well, i noticed that Kairi was having a few extra glances as your privates," Riku smiled as he looked behind him.

"Oh, i hope Namine is ok," Roxas muttered, and actually looked like he was about to turn back and fan her back to consciousness.

"Oh, she'll be fine...She might need to go to the hospital...and you might find several paintings of you...well, el Natural...but she'll be fine," Riku laughed as the four walked into the cafeteria.

At first no one had really noticed the four naked men wondering in. The students were too busy to get food and relax from the day of classes to notice that naked students had entered the area where they were eating. However, this soon changed when One of the freshmen students who had received for himself a burger and coke, began to walk to his table...when all of a sudden he glanced at Sora...and proceeded to drop his tray.

The clanging sound of the tray caused every single head to turn their attention from the conversation and food to the noise that the freshmen had just made, and then to the naked Seniors that were standing at the door.

What followed was a series of gasps, wolf whistles, points, stares and increased eyes as every person looked at the private parts of each of the four men, Most pointing at Sora and Riku while there were smirks and laughs in Axel's direction.

"What the hell do we do?" Roxas muttered as he leaned over to Sora, Who was busy smiling and waving at everyone, as he leaned over to Roxas, "...Just smile...and wave,"

As they began to move backwards towards the door, they all heard the distinct sound of metal doors opening, and they slowly turned around as they saw Coach Auron Guardian standing over them, crossing his arms.

"You boys...missing something?" He said in a tough voice, and they all tried to turn back, bumping into something for the second time. Almost knowing who it was, the three turned around to see wood-work teacher Cid Highwind glaring at them.

"Oh...hey sir..." Sora said slowly as he scratched the back of his head.

Riku leaned over to Sora and said, "Alright, i got this," and Riku leaned forward to his teacher.

"Sir, i know what you're thinking...yes, I'm going to hand in the assignment, but theres still one thing i have to d-" Riku didn't finish as he was grabbed by Cid, and Sora, Roxas and Axel got the message as they began to follow Coach Villiers towards what they could only assume was Principle Eraqus' office.

"Dude...we're going to get into so much trouble," Roxas muttered, and Sora smiled.

"Worth it," Sora grinned, and the four boys lowered their hands to cover themselves as they were ushered into the Principles office.

IV. Run naked through the school.

The crowd roared as the lights of the Mirage Arena lit up. Mirage Island was one of the smaller islands that were located near twilight town. The Arena was the entire island, and well known for housing some of the planets most famous bands. Bands would pay obscene amounts of money just to play one song there, because of the legend that surrounded the Mirage arena over many years. It was a place that many talent agents liked to go to from time to time, and grantee'ed that any band playing there would get a record deal. For this reason, it was a very hard place to play, and only the best of the best were allowed to rock there.

And tonight, playing backup for the famous Rock band NORA, the members of Advent Children were all standing back stage, nervous grins on their faces and sweat dripping from their just made-up faces.

"Finally, something that Isn't going to make me shit myself, make me cry or get me beaten up," Axel stared from behind the thick black curtain, dressed in a simple pair of dress jeans and a hoodie, that was opened and revealing is muscular torso and sporting a pair of Ray-bands as he looked around at the almost 10,000 people waiting for the music they had payed for.

"Give it time," Roxas said as he played around with his Bass guitar, making sure it was tuned perfectly, "It's only early, a lot of things can happen between now and when we get on stage," Roxas was sporting a nice grey suit with a golden tie, but instead of the jacket he was wearing a very nice looking grey waistcoat.

Axel turned around, sweat-dropping as he did, "Nice, Jinx me, that's all I need for tonight," and he returned to looking out.

Meanwhile, Sora and Riku, who had just completed getting stage make-up on, were walking towards Roxas and Axel, Riku was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, with a white buttoned shirt and overcoat that reached down to the back of his knees , Sora had gone black suit and tieless with his white shirt opened and revealing his tanned neck-line.

"Riku, I think i speak for all of us when i say this...How in the WORLD did you get us to play line up for NORA?" He asked his friend.

"Well, like i said, a bit of Munny here, some favors there...of course, i've done the easy bit," Riku and Sora walked up behind Axel and looked out onto the crowd looking around, both the people in the stands taking their seats and the mosh pit, which was mostly populated by teenagers waiting for them to go on, all getting excited, and impatient.

"The hard bit," Riku muttered, "Is getting this lot excited while we play," The comment made both Sora and Axel turn around.

"What are you talking about? we'll be great, we always get great reviews when we play in front of school," Axel stated, and Riku looked at him.

"Axel, that's only 300 students, this is 10,000 people, and i'm pretty sure only a few of the people in the audience will be from our school," Axel sighed as he turned back around.

"You know you have a great way of killing the optimism in one foul swoop," Axel muttered to his best friend, and hearing this, Sora grinned as he grabbed both of his best friends by the neck, "Come on guys, who cares if we make it, we're playing on one of the most famous stages on the entire planet, let's just have some fun with it,"

Riku mumbled something, before he smiled and looked at Sora, "Alright, Sora...we'll have a good time...just for you," And Riku slapped his best friend on the back.

"Fifteen till we go on, would Advent Children please go to their places," A call man yelled out, and the four boys looked around each other, Axel breaking the silence between the four with a sigh as he withdrew his drum sticks and tapped them against each other as he made his way towards the drum-kit.

"Well, i guess it's now or never," Roxas said, as everyone could tell that he was feeling just a little bit nervous.

Sora, who had noticed this, smiled at his best friend and leaned forward, "Don't worry about it Roxas, you'll go out, play, and in the end you'll have a good time," Sora slapped his bandmate on the back and walked over to the centre stage.

Riku smiled as he made one last small adjustment to his guitar before he leaned over to his best friend and said, "So Sora, you ready for this?"

Sora grinned before he returned to staring at the curtain that was about to raise, "Well, as the french would say...Allons-y!"

Two Minutes earlier.

You could have cut then anxiety in the air with a knife as the teenagers waited for the mysterious line-up that would follow one of the most successful bands ever formed. Many rumors had weaved their way through the media and social life when the Mirage Arena had announced that a "Mysterious" band would be performing first before NOVA was set to appear. Some believed that they were an extremely popular band, and wanted to keep their whereabouts a secret from the media, while others believed that it was NOVA themselves, and they wanted to boost ticket sales by telling people that there was a "secret" Band that would be performing first.

One thing was for sure, for Kairi Lockhart, this would be a night she would never forget.

"I still cannot believe you got us tickets Xion, NOVA was sold out months ago," Kairi said, having to raise her voice only slightly to be heard over the other conversing teenagers.

"Well, i suppose it helps when you're dad's the Mayor," Selphie nudged Xion, who remained expressionless and rolled her eyes.

Kairi giggled as she looked at her sister, who was busy trying not to have a mini panic-attack, "You alright there Nam? Still with us?"

Namine, who was going whiter then the dress she was wearing, asked quickly "Whose brilliant idea was it to do this again?", Kairi just being able to make out the words.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine, once the music starts, you'll be distracted long enough to forget about it," And Namine gave her sister a stair of disbelief.

"So, who do you reckon is going on first?" Xion asked, turning the topic of conversation to one that had been talked about by the small group of friends for the past two days.

"I reckon its that new Hip Hop Band, ROTFL," Selphie said, nodding her head, but stopping when she saw Xion looking at her with skepticism.

"They're in Midgar Selph, doing their own tour, no, i recon its a new band...something that no one has ever heard before,"

"Well, we're going to find out soon," Kairi shrieked a little as the lights began to dim down and the sounds of the audience began to rise to screams and cheers.

Slowly, the curtains opened, and the lights suddenly covered the stage, blocking out the vision of the band that was playing. Kairi squinted her eyes and raised her hand above them to try and get a better look. All she could tell from the four was that they all had spiky hair. Everything else was a blur.

"Is it just me, or is that spiky hair really familiar?" Namine muttered softly, and even Kairi, who was right next to her, had trouble hearing it. But her sight agreed with her sister. There was something about that hair that seemed way too familiar.

And then it hit her.

And she turned to the others, pointing at the band, then them, then the band again and finally them again and shrieked.

"Please Kairi," Selphie said, "This is no time for a game of charades," But the sudden silencing of the crowd from the band that was up their made the three others realize almost instantly whom Kairi was referring to.

"Good Evening Destiny Island," Came a loud, if not nervous voice from the mic, and no one responded as they wondered who was on the stage at the moment. "We are the Advent Children," And at the mention of their name, the crowd suddenly was filled with questions of "Who?" "What Band's this?" "Never heard of them,"

Clearing his throat, the voice continued, "We are here as the backing band for NOVA, only here to p-play one song, so we hope you enjoy it," By now many people were scoffing at the nervousness of the young man standing there, many rolled eyes, and small amounts of "boo'ing" that were getting louder.

But as the crowd began to get louder with their discomfort, there was one thing that was going through Kairi's mind, "Sora is never nervous when he goes on stage, no matter where it is,"

And as the lights dimmed ever slightly, and Kairi finally got to see Sora on stage, she took note of the smile that was plastered on his face, and she finally realized what was going on.

"He's acting," She said out loud, and the others looked at her for a moment, wondering what she meant, before the music began and they all turned to watch.

Riku was standing to the left of Sora, his overcoat swaying in the breeze as he began gracefully moving his hands across the strings, his fingers lazily switching from chord to chord. Sora's head was down as he began to hum softly, most people looking at the difference between the kid who was nervous and this new, cocky and confident young man.

And then, he started to sing.

Just a dime store poet,

Keeping pace, talking his face blue.

Two dollar store tramps, To get a glance,

a new chance at you.

Sora's smile was contagious, as many people in the audience began to smile. Their original thoughts of him completely wrong as people began to move and shake to the song. Kairi's surprise was gone as a smile on her face at the four men on one of the most famous stages on the planet were looking into the entire audience, The guitarist at the edge of the stage where people were trying so desperately to touch his silver hair, the blonde boy on bass as the sweat on his forehead was slowly building up, and yet he looked oh so adorable in his vest and dress-pants, and the arrogant drummer behind the ray-bands had his sweat gleaming off of his chest, where many girls were clearly impressed. But Kairi was only impressed with the lead singer, who winked at the audience as he continued.

Walk past the dance floor

that's always been a dear friend of mine.

Cut calls, and concubines.

Dancing in four four times.

All at once, Roxas, Riku and Sora jumped in the air, Axel began hitting the drums with an incredible force, as the soft music turned to that of Rock as Sora grabbed hold of the mic stand and pushed forward as he sang the chorus.

"Hey Mister," The bellman says.

"I can only recall this nice hotel" I said.

So he replies, "Then how do you manage?"

I dodge the blast, and apologize, for collateral damage.

The four returned to playing normally, the crowd going nuts, screams and shouts of "We love you Advent Children" And those knowing the song joining in were filling the entire Arena. Namine, who normally would have been growing smaller and smaller and the noise of the large crowd crushing her this way and that, was joining in of the screams, and had even started the chant of "WE LOVE YOU ROXAS!" Sora had taken the Mic out, and was beginning to walk around the stage, smiling at everyone there as he continued to wink at certain members of the audience, most whom were female. Kairi felt her the back of her neck go numb, a small sign that she was clearly jealous. These women, whom had never met Sora before, were being winked at, while she, someone who had known him for so long, was getting nothing. Her shrieks and jumps died down a little as Sora began the next part of the song.

In love, I've always been a mercenary,

But i never leave my post when the cash runs out.

I want to make you quiver, make your backbone shiver

Hey kid! Take the stage and deliver.

Sora grinned at the members of the audience and he began to slowly strut around the stage, his footsteps in time with the guitar, bass and drums that were playing behind him, as the chorus came up, he jumped in the air as he pointed at the left hand side of the crowd.

"Hey Mister," The bellman says.

"I can only recall this nice hotel" I said.

So he replies, "Then how do you manage?"

I dodge the blast, and apologize, for collateral damage.

As the sound of the music got lower, all four members of the Advent Children began to get darker and darker. The lighting that had previously been covering the band slowly disappeared, until only four small spotlights on each of the members were left, covering their face as Axel slowly tapped on his drum-set, Riku was softly strumming along, and Sora's voice, which had previously been light and fun, had turned to a dark and sinister voice.

How does it feel?

To stand on the very stones that ran with your parents blood?

Do you feel sad? full of rage?

Or does that "Outfit" Help bury your feelings.

Many people in the audience, who had once been jamming along, bopping up and down to the music were suddenly silenced, with goosebumps growing all over their neck. As Sora began to scan the crowd, again looking through those dark eyes towards the many teenagers in the mosh pit, his eyes found their way to Kairi, and for a brief moment he stopped, their eyes locked together. He could not believe, of all the people in all the crowds in all the concerts, she was at this one. He could not help but give one small smile, before he returned to the sinister character that he was playing.

Hiding your true self.

You are truly an extraordinary creature.

I look forward

to breaking you.

Shaking his head, his brown bangs going everywhere, The lights of his spotlight grew while the others disappeared, revealing his smile and his eyes wide open, with a look of fun on his face, like a child who was getting everything they wanted after months of being denied everything, and he said, very clearly, into the Mic:

I dodge the blast, and apologise, for collateral damage

And all at once the lights flashed on, revealing the bassist and the guitarist at the edge of the stage, their feet half over the edge and smiles on their faces. Sora's eyes were still glued to the girl in the mosh pit, who was busy twisting slowly this way and that, no one bumping her as her eyesight was transfixed with the lead singer.

"Hey Mister," The bellman says.

Roxas and Riku looked at each other, before looking at Sora and where he was staring, before smiles spread on their faces. Roxas waved at Namine quickly while Riku managed a wink at Xion. Namine turned a bright red, while Xion just looked away from the boy...but a small smile appeared on her face.

"I can only recall this nice hotel" I said.

Sora grinned through the mic as he pointed at the girl with whom he looked no where else. People in the crowd were looking for where he was pointing to, and some who were close to the four girls and realized who Sora was pointing at moved away so that everyone could get a better look at the apple of the lead singers eye.

So he replies, "Then how do you manage?"

The guitarist shrugged, smiling at the amount of attention they were gathering, and the amount of embarrassment that had turned Kairi redder then her own hair color. She still managed a smile that eventually turned into a grin when Sora had the same facial expression on his own sweating face.

I dodge the blast, and apologize, for collateral damage.

Sora nodded his head at Kairi, before smiling and turning back to his bandmates. With a nod of his head, both Roxas and Riku nodded back, and began to spin around on the spot, strobe lights flashing on the boys as the two guitarist spun and jumped as Sora flicked back the sleeves of his coat and sang the final part of the song.

"Hey Mister," The bellman says.

"I can only recall this nice hotel" I said.

So he replies, "Then how do you manage?"

I dodge the blast, and apologize, for collateral damage.

As the music from the group began to die down, the crowd screamed even louder, and when Riku strummed the final note of the song, the entire crowd began to scream and cheer even louder. Sora wiped the stage make-up off of his forehead as he grinned at the cheering crowd, before he walked over the mic stand and placed it back in, before screaming out, "Good Night Destiny Islands! Enjoy NOVA!" And with one last wink at the girl with the red hair, he along with Roxas, Axel and Riku made their way towards the back stage area.

Once they were back their, the four hi-five'd each other, laughing and grinning at the successful night they had just had. But Sora was grinning for another reason entirely, more so for one person they had played for.

"So Sora," Riku's voice brought him back from the deep depths of his own mind, "You seemed to enjoy yourself there,"

"Oh...yeah, it was a good show," Sora smiled, and Riku's left eyebrow rose, "Good for you? or for one person in particular that I couldn't help but notice you were staring at for the portion of our performance,"

"Good for me," Sora began to go a bright red and stormed off. Riku smirked at his embarrassed best friend, and chuckled as Roxas and Axel headed off too their dressing rooms.

Riku was just about to leave when his eyes caught something. An idea forming as he watched the four people making their way towards the stage, all dressed up with musical instruments hanging from their sides, he walked over to them.

"Excuse me, may I have a word?" Riku asked, smiling as he did.

III. Play backup to a band.

Axel sighed as he looked around. For the first time since doing the list of things, this was by far the most embarrassing thing that he had done. He had crapped himself in one of the fasted cars in the worlds, he had head-dived into the sand from the Ultimecia wave, he had even done a nudie run through his school, but this was by far the worst thing that happened to him.

He was dressed in a Sailor Moon costume, walking through Comic-con.

"Sora, four words...WHAT THE HELL MAN!" Axel raged as he looked at Sora, sending him all manner of death stares.

"What?" Sora asked, dressed in a white robe and smiling, clearing portraying Ezio from the Assassin's Creed video games.

"I'M DRESSED LIKE A FREAKING GIRL!" Axel yelled, which caused many people to stare or take a step back, depending on how close they were to the cross-dressing man.

"Hey, I didn't tell you to dress like a man, it's your own fault for doing it," Sora told him.

"No, it is your fault, Riku said that the list said we were going to comic-con dressed as the main characters from Sailer mo-" And suddenly Axel stopped as he put two and two together before looking at Riku, who was dressed as a Man in Black, complete with Raybands and a neuralizer.

"Oh you son of a bi-" But suddenly his vision was gone as he was blinded by Riku's replica prop and began running in the other direction.

"COME BACK HERE LEONHART! I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN, BUT I'M GONNA MAKE YOU WISH YOU COULD FORGET YOUR ENTIRE EXISTENCE!" And holding down the skirt so that people could not see his privates, Axel took off.

Rolling his eyes, Sora and a Batman costumed Roxas began looking around, marveling at all that Comic-con Destiny Islands had to offer, before Roxas stopped and pointed something out.

"Hey Sora, check it out," And Sora turned to see two girls, one dressed in a black jacket and shorts with red, yellow and blue lines across it, with spiky black hair holding some type of key sword, the other with blonde hair, wearing a black coat and carrying 2 more complex designs of the key sword, one black and the other white.

"Man, that looks ridiculous," Sora muttered.

"I know, can you imagine if we wore anything as stupid as that?" Roxas chuckled.

"And what's with those weapons? I mean Swords as giant keys? like some sort of "Keyblade"?" Sora laughed.

"It would have looked cooler if it was a chainsaw instead of a key,"

"You know thats right," Roxas and Sora nodded, and they continued to make their way around the area.

II. Cosplay at a Comic Convention.

Cheers and hoorays were thrown into the air as Sora grinned at the amount of people cheering for him. One of the biggest parties Destiny Islands had ever seen and it was to celebrate his birth. This was perfect, His friends everywhere, celebrating, laughing, not letting something like their Mark of Mastery Exams come into it, just a night of killing brain cells and seeing who could do the stupidest thing in the shortest amount of time.

Had Sora's list been finished, he would have felt truly happy.

How quickly the month had turned to weeks, then to days, and now he only had but a few short hours before it would be fourteen past three in the morning, and he would officially be 18. He knew that he had to complete that list before the time, and yet every time he tried to in the past two days he either was over-come with a great sense of embarrassment, or he was interrupted with someone wishing him a happy birthday and by the time he had gotten back, he had missed his chance.

And now was his last chance.

His thoughts were destroyed when the voice of his best friend and the main reason why the party was taking place had gotten up on stage and had managed to once again grab the attention of almost every person there within a few seconds.

"Once again i'd like to welcome everyone to my best friend Sora's 18th birthday, i'm so glad that you all could make it here to celebrate his coming of age day, to be honest, a lot of us didn't believe that he would make it to 18, but there you go...Roxas, i owe you $50,"

The crowd chuckled at the small comment, but the sound grew to laughter as he pulled out the money and walked over to Roxas before handing it too him.

"Right, now that that is settled, may i remind everyone that there is a booth up near where Roxas is, which shows all the great footage of Myself, Sora, Roxas and Axel completing a series of 9 different, insane tasks. The DVD's also include audio commentary and slow motion of all of Axel's blundering moments, they're going for $10 each and are well worth it,"

Roxas smiled as many people began making their way over to the booth, which had been covered in photos of frozen images of the group in different and wacky poses. For some reason, almost half of the photos featured Axel in some compromising position. As Sora studied the pictures more, he realized that most of them weren't even taken throughout the event, and that most of them consisted of Axel spooning with Roxas while sleeping. How, when and where these photos had been taken was a mystery to everyone there, but one thing was for certain by the way Roxas and Axel were now looking at the photos for the first time that night; they we're not photo's that made them look good.

"...i don't remember putting these photos up?" Roxas muttered just loud enough for Riku to hear him, to which Riku responded with, "I may or may not have swapped most the photos we took with some from my personal blackmailing stash while you were busy staring at Namine,"

Both Namine and Roxas, who were standing on opposite sides of the crowds, grew bright red and instantly silenced.

Axel, however, who had clearly had too much to drink, stared at the pictures before saying, "HEY! most of these are me nude,"

Roxas also looked up to study them closer, before saying "...why are you staring at my arse in most of these Axel," And quite suddenly, Axel mentioned something about going to sober up and walked away.

"Now that we have had the awkward homosexuality confrontation portion of the evening completed, i would like to draw your attention to the next event," Many people, after chuckling once again at the comedy stylings of Riku, began to look around as four people in big black coats began to make their way on stage.

"Now you may know this band, and if you don't, i have no idea where you have been the last couple of years, they are here as a favor to me, and without further adu, i would like to introduce you to the one, the only, please welcome, NOVA!"

Screams and cheers sounded as the four band members removed their hoods. A woman with bright pink hair smiled back, while a black male with an afro and sunglasses smiled as picked up his guitar and two other females, one with bright red hair, and the other with dyed dark brown hair grinned as they took their place by the bass and the drums.

"Great to be here for the birthday of Sora Strife, wave your hands Sora!" And the sea of teenagers parted as Sora smiled and waved his hands.

"This first song is for you," And without further hesitation, the guitarist, a man by the name of Sazh began to strum the guitar hard as female singer Lighting smiled.

Theres a girl inside tonight, cause she's got nowhere to go.

And her loves are running wild, yeah her loves are running wild.

A' yeah! yeah! yeah!

The music picked up quickly as everyone began to dance and sing their hearts out. jumping up and down to the sound of the music, letting their worries drop of them as they laughed, grinned and enjoyed the time of their life.

And on the side, leaning against the wall of the house stood Sora, smiling at the enjoyment of people having the time of their life, his list out of his mind. So he hadn't been able to finish it, at least people were happy, and that was what had mattered. And he had come close to finishing it as well, which was the important thing. He had come close, finishing 9 seemingly impossible tasks was nothing to snicker at.

All the reassuring from his brain, however, was giving him a headache.

"Well, hello there birthday boy,"

The voice was the only one that could have possibly brought him out of his thoughts about the list, and he smiled before looking up at the girl, dressed in a red dress matching her hair and a pair of dark jeans, her hair tied up and placed lightly over her shoulder.

"Miss Kairi, what brings you too such a disturbing place like the Leonhart Mansion?" Sora winked at the girl before him.

"Well, by some unfortunate chain of events, I had to come and celebrate the day you were born 18 years ago," Kairi smiled as she swayed side to side.

"Ah, a fate worse then death," Sora sighed as he began to chuckle.

Kairi giggled as she held out a present, and Sora looked down at it before looking back up at the girl, "Kairi you didn't have to get me anything,"

"Don't be so quick to give it up, open it," Kairi smiled, and Sora sighed as he slowly took the package and unwrapped it, revealing a case. Looking at Kairi and the smile on her face, he opened it up and looked at the gift.

The gift was a star, made entirely of silver with a gold star in the middle, hanging from a chain which was made out of metal. Sora slowly lifted the pendant out from its box, before looking at Kairi.

"It's called a Wayfinder, they're suppose to be given to people who want to stay connected no matter what, it seemed like such a good thing to give to you for your 18th,"

Sora smiled as he placed the chain around him, it bouncing lightly on his crown necklace as it fit perfectly, smiling at the item before smiling at Kairi, "Thank you Kairi," Kairi smiled at the young man before her, before she decided to quickly change the subject, fearing an awkward moment between the two. She coughed as she turned to face the empty booth of DVD's, where she picked one up and read the title.

"'9 things to do before i turn 18' ...interesting number choice, 9," Kairi smiled at the picture of the four, all in suits and bungie equipment with happy/frightened looks on their faces.

It took Sora a bit to answer her, as he was looking from the Wayfinder to Kairi, a smile on his face, as if something that he had thought for a while had just been confirmed. "Well, it was originally ten, but with all the editing and audio commentary, we just didn't have time to fit the last one in there," He continued staring at her with a smile on his face, ready to do something that he had wanted to since he had first met her.

"Oh, and what was the last one?" Kairi asked, staring at the picture of Sora and not noticing the real one that was slowly etching his way closer and closer towards her.

"This," and Kairi looked up just in time for Sora to softly hold her checks in his rough hands, and plant a deep kiss on her lips.

At first the girls eyes widened, afraid that the kiss was of a drunken stupor and not genuine. But the more he kissed her, the more she realized that there was no pushing of the lips together, no force of his tongue trying to get through the walls that were her lips, and that he wasn't using said tongue more then his lips. The kiss was soft, it was light, it wasn't intrusive, and it wasn't something that was breaking her boundaries. It was more of a sign. A sign of feelings, A message to let her know his feelings.

And smiling into the kiss, Kairi returned a message of her own to Sora.

A message of her mutual feelings.

Breaking away from the kiss, Sora's hands moved from her cheeks to her waist, not pulling her close, but allowing her to control the distance that was between them. Kairi grinned, not shy, but happy as she moved a strand of her hair out of her face, "When did you know?"

"About a minute ago, when you handed me the Wayfinder," Sora smiled, and before Kairi could ask the obvious question, Sora responded, "In all the years of teenagers giving out Wayfinders on this Island, I have never ever seen one given to a "Friend"

"Ever?" Kairi asked, glad in a way that her decision to give him a Wayfinder was the correct one. "Ever," Sora responded, grinning as he pulled the girl into a second Kiss, but broke away fairly quickly when a noise from his nosy best friend was made.

"Let's hear it from newly formed couple, Sora Strife and Kairi Lockhart," Riku yelled over NOVA.

She won't ever get enough

once she get's a little touch

if i had it my way

you know that i'd make her say

oooooooo, oooooooo

Riku winked and gave his best friend the thumb's up, while Sora returned a different finger to his best friend, before he looked to his side, his eyes widened, and he rushed a goodbye before running as fast as he could. The confusion as to where he was going was instantly answered as a sober Axel and an infuriated Roxas came charging towards him, with sharp utensils of the kitchen variety in their hands.

"I...AM...NOT...GAY!" Axel swiped and swung his butchers knife, taking off a bit of the silver haired boy.

"OH SHIT! WHO LET THEM IN THE KITCHEN!" Riku screamed as he jumped his back fence, followed by Axel and Roxas.

Sora and Kairi both looked at the Chaos that was leaving the party, before both of them (as well as the entire population of the party) began to roar with laughter. Wiping the tears away from their eyes, both teenager and adult smiled, before they both leaned in, and kissed softly, which followed several cheers from the crowd that Sora and Kairi were together.

I. Kiss Kairi Lockhart.

T H E E N D

hohk, hope you enjoyed the story, those followers who have decided to read this and not go straight on to reviewing...i hope...

To start things off in chronological order, i recently finished my HSC (-begin party mode-) and i was all set to finish this story...when something terrible happened.

The chord to my battery was destroyed.

Losing power (And locking away most of my stories) i had to quickly go on a quest to find a new battery and chord...thankfully, the apple store was helpful when it came to getting this, and soon i had power.

But then something else terrible happened.

By keyboard was utterly destroyed.

which also brought about the destruction of any chance of writing with it.

Now i could have gone and fixed it, but of course, i was already saving up for a new computer, so there was no point.

Unfortunately, that also meant a month of waiting until i could write, which believed me, was a month of filling up book after book of ideas, plot summaries, and character bio's

Until a few days ago, in which i had finally got enough money to purchase my new baby, a MacBook Pro 13" 750HDD (Which all you fellow nerds and apple fans would understand and ador, in normal people terms, its one great SOB)

So, with all my music, movies, pictures and most importantly, documents, i was also able to finish this story...a month late.

KYRA, I AM SO SORRY

for those of you who have not guessed, a month ago (On December 17th) Kyra (because fanfic won't let me use her screen name for some f&%ked up reason, just look at the summery for it) celebrated her 16th Birthday. Now because i live in Australia, and she is all the way in canada, the best gift i could think of was a nice long one shot dedicated to the most talented writer fanfiction has the pleasure of knowing. She is someone who if you have not already heard of (And i would be very surprised if you hadn't), you should get over to her page very soon, and read every single bit of writing that she has ever written. She is a fantastic romantic, a Hilarious comedic writer, and quite possibly one of the greatest people i have ever had the pleasure of meeting. So from the bottom of your australian brothers heart, happy (late) birthday my dear, and i hope this has made up for it.

Back in the Life of Someone, IM A UNI STUDENT! ...KINDA! I recently got accepted into University to study a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English Writing and Text...so essentially, i'll be doing what i've been doing for the past 4 years, only i'll have a cool official piece of paper to go with it.

But before i do that, i'll be taking a gap year, which will be filled with working, partying, and above all, writing up my first novel, which i hope to spend a lot more time on now that i'm not struggling with studies...of course, i also have commitments to fanfiction, so juggling WILL be fun, but i'll see how everything goes.

I'll try not to take too much time for my next story, but in the meantime, go, review, then go to kyra's homepage and bask in the amazingness that is her stories.

Love from a very tired author.

Jared Someone.